It is well understood that the incidence and behavior of forest fire depends mainly on short-term weather influences of no more than several days duration. And yet, all through the history of fire danger rating in the United States and Canada, runs a persistent interest in the effects of weather over a much longer term, usually studied under the heading of 'drought'. This is the introduction to a powerpoint presentation given at the Joint Session of 19th Annual Interior West Fire Council Conference & 6th American Meteorological Society Symposium on Fire and Forest Meteorology, Oct. 25-27, 2005, Canmore, AB.