This time of year, Don Gabbard, a fire chief in Eastern Oregon, wants to look up at the Strawberry Mountains and see a blanket of snow. That snow can help delay the start of the region’s wildfire season. Fire crews count on winter weather to moisten the landscape, decreasing the chances that a random lightning storm or forgotten campfire will set off a large, expensive and potentially deadly fire during the drier months of summer. “In a year like this, fire season starts earlier and goes longer because there’s nothing up at the higher elevation to slow it down,” said Gabbard, who is based in John Day, Oregon, where the nearby mountains showed just a dusting of snow. “It’s pretty dry and brown right now.” Most of the American West saw significantly less snow than usual this winter, and record warmth wiped out what little that did fall.…