Oregon heat: Temperatures near 100 degrees, possible lightning set to return

Oregon heat is returning, and it could bring a bit of unwanted lightning as well.

Temperatures are forecast to surpass 100 degrees east of the Cascades and climb near 100 in the Willamette Valley on Thursday. Thunderstorms could return by Friday night into Saturday, which could bring new wildfires or fire growth.

The National Weather Service issued an excessive heat watch east of the Cascades , for temperatures up to 106 degrees, and a heat advisory west of the Cascades , for temperatures mainly between 95 and 99.

"We could easily see temperatures back up to 100 degrees any number of places from Portland to Eugene," said Tom Schuldt, a meteorologist with the NWS in Portland.

The bigger concern is monsoonal moisture moving into the Cascades and east of the Cascades that could bring lightning and thunderstorms, leading to fire growth or new fires.

"Obviously we don't need that at this point," Schuldt said. "It's too early to tell exactly what we're going to see but it's a concern right now that we'll be able to forecast more in depth the closer we get to the event."

July has been historically hot in Oregon, setting a record in the Willamette Valley for most consecutive days above 100 degrees — five days in triple digits. The heat brought a return of Oregon's drought and set the stage for the roughly 38 large wildfires burning in the state as of Tuesday evening.

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 16 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast . Urness is the author of “ Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon ” and “ Hiking Southern Oregon .” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon heat: Temperatures near 100 degrees, possible lightning set to return