Another hot and hazy day for some--more EXTREME Fire Impacts

Today : No surprise here, but it’s going to be another hot day. Highs will be about 5-10 degrees above average. This’ll place us in the mid-70s to low-80s in the mountains, with mid to upper-90s for the Kittitas/Yakima valleys and the Blue Foothills. The Lower Columbia Basin will be right around 100 degrees. Skies will be sunny, although smoky and hazy downwind of the Lone Rock Fire. This’ll mainly impact air quality in the Blue Foothills and Blue Mountains–especially in southern Morrow County. There’s also the risk today for more fire starts given the dry fuels. We’re going with a First Alert EXTREME Impact Fire Day, for the entire viewing area, due to fire fuel energy being in the 97th - 98th percentile (compared to historical values). Winds today will gust between 20-35 MPH. Wind directions will be out of the west-northwest in the Cascades and Kittitas/Yakima valleys, with a west-southwesterly direction for the Lower Columbia Basin, Blue Foothills, and the Blue Mountains.

Tonight : Winds will calm down late this evening across the map, although they could still gust out of the northwest up to 30 MPH in the Kittitas Valley. Other than that, we’ll continue to track some hazy/smoky conditions in southern Morrow and Umatilla counties. The worst air quality will continue to be in Morrow County given the closer proximity to the Lone Rock Fire. Overnight lows will be mild on Monday night. It’ll be in the mid-50s in the Cascades, with low-60s for the Kittitas/Yakima valleys, Lower Columbia Basin, and Blues. The Blue Foothills will still be in the mid-60s.

Extended : It’ll be an even hotter day for Tuesday. Highs will be about 10 degrees above average (near 105 degrees in the Tri-Cities). Air quality will likely be worse overall down-wind of the Lone Rock Fire (in Gilliam County) and the Pioneer Fire (in Chelan County). Kittitas, Morrow, and Umatilla counties will likely be the most impacted areas of our viewing area–especially southern Morrow County. Our weather turns even more interesting with lightning in the forecast for Wednesday. Fuels will still be very dry at this point, so there’s a real concern or fire starts. In fact, we’ll have another set of First Alert EXTREME Impact Fire Days for Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday is obviously the more threatening day due to the lightning potential. For Thursday and beyond, highs hold steady with more dry and sunny weather on the way.

​COPYRIGHT 2024 BY APPLE VALLEY NEWS NOW. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.