00:36 U.S. Wildfires Scorch 2.2 Million Acres Danielle Banks explains how wildfires in the U.S. are the worst since 2008.

At a Glance Wildfires have burned more than 2 million acres in the U.S. so far in 2017.

The South has had the most fire activity.

Wildfires have charred more than four times the average acreage to date in what has been a destructive and deadly start to 2017 in the United States.

Almost 2.2 million acres had been burned by 14,529 wildfires as of April 7, the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reports . The area of land burned so far in 2017 dwarfs the 10-year average (2007-2016) of 434,696 acres for this point in the year, but the actual number of fires is close to the average of 13,731.

(MORE: Where Large Wildfires are Most Common )

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/burn-scar.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/burn-scar.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/burn-scar.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > Shaded orange/brown in this satellite image are the burn scars from destructive fires in southern Kansas and northwest Oklahoma on March 7, 2017. The brighter orange areas show where the fires were actively burning at that time. (NASA)

The only other year in the last decade to have more than a million acres burned by early April was 2008, according to NIFC.

NIFC's southern region, which includes a swath from Oklahoma and Texas to the Carolinas and Florida , has been the epicenter for the worst wildfire activity in 2017. About 77 percent of the acres burned this year have occurred in that region as of April 7.

Many locations in the South were experiencing either abnormally dry or drought conditions from late winter into early spring and that helped provide fuel for the fires, the U.S. Drought Monitor reports .

Strong winds and dry weather conditions in March fed some of the worst fire activity so far in 2017 across parts of Kansas, western Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle, resulting in six deaths . A complex of wildfires in northwest Oklahoma alone burned 779,292 acres March 6-22 .

NOAA reports that thousands of livestock died as a result of the March wildfires .

A record 2 million acres burned during March overall, nearly seven times the average for that month, NOAA said.

Florida has been the most recent hot spot for active wildfires and has seen nearly 80,000 acres burned by close to 1,500 fires, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services reports. A state of emergency was declared this week due to the fires.

(LATEST NEWS: Florida Wildfires )

Looking ahead, portions of the Southeast and Southwest have the greatest potential to see above-average wildfire activity during the rest of April and May because of warmer and drier-than-average conditions that are forecast to persist.

The outlook maps below prepared by the NIFC on April 1 show the areas of most concern in red. Green shaded locations are forecast to see below-average wildfire activity.

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/wildfires-april.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/wildfires-april.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/wildfires-april.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > Wildfire outlook for April 2017. (NIFC)

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/wildfire-may.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/wildfire-may.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/wildfire-may.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > Wildfire outlook for May 2017. (NIFC)

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