The National Interagency Fire Center's outlook for the spring and summer shows the potential for significant fires will be below average for much of Texas, the South and the southern Midwest. Hawaii could face a long, dry summer, with above-average wildfire potential from May through August after a drought intensified last month, the fire center said. An increased threat of wildfires is expected in southern Arizona in May, expanding into southwestern New Mexico and southern Nevada and Utah in June. By July and August, conditions will improve in Arizona and New Mexico, but a strip near the California coast from the San Francisco Bay to the Mexican border could see above-normal chances of fire. The improved overall outlook is welcome news after the 2015 fire season, when a record 15,800 square miles burned nationwide.