Critical fire threats exist this weekend into early next week east of the Cascades, where numerous new fires from lightning this week will burn and spread along with larger fires that have been testing firefighters for days.
On Friday afternoon, a huge smoke plume from the Little Giant Fire in the central Cascades could be seen from much of the Puget Sound region, with the pyrocumulus cloud produced by the intense heat of the fire extending thousands of feet into the atmosphere.
The onshore (westerly) wind flow is taking smoke from these fires east, and away from Western Washington through the weekend, but downstream from these fires air quality will be unhealthy at times. An Air Quality Alert has been issued through Monday for Chelan, Douglas, Okanogan and other counties farther east in the northern part of the state.
The westerly onshore Pacific winds bring cooler air to Western Washington, and even a chance of rain showers at times nearer the coast on Saturday and areawide Sunday. However, no relief in the form of rain is coming east of the Cascade crest.
Western winds will accelerate on the east slopes of the Cascades, dry out, and warm. These wind gusts over 30mph at times combined with low humidity have prompted a Red Flag Warning for high fire danger. Any fires that begin or are burning outside of fire containment lines will be able to spread rapidly.
From Wednesday through Thursday, there were more than one thousand lightning strokes detected across Washington State, with many thousands more in Idaho and Oregon. As some fires started by lightning tend to smolder — sometimes for days — we could see further fires erupt with warm, dry winds this weekend.
West of the Cascades, rain chances nearer the coast Saturday will be seen inland on Sunday. Most areas away from the coast won’t see significant rainfall, but any rainfall is welcomed.
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