Very warm and dry pattern remains, heating up by the end of the week

Bend, Ore (KTVZ) – Little change in the overall pattern today as the region is being impacted by warmth from the large ridge of high pressure across the desert southwest. The flow of air arrives from the southwest once again allowing the smoke plumes, visible by satellite, to transport the heavy smoke to the northeast.

The highs once again will hover around the upper 80s and low 90s with a few more clouds today than over the past few.

Thursday will be partly cloudy and warm again with highs in the upper 80s. The clouds may provide a bit of relief for area firefighters, but the warmth is still present. Some breezy conditions are expected develop but not too impactful. Over the weekend the winds are expected to pick up in Wasco and Wheeler counties, not good news for suppression efforts as they try to get the Hay Creek and Eastern Rowe Creek Fires buttoned up.

Friday will be the hottest day of the week as the mercury hits the low to middle 90s. This will put an exclamation point on the month of July which has been on the hot and dry side.

August starts out with highs in the middle 80s, just about right for early August. Expect to see plenty of sunshine and breezy to windy conditions, especially in the Columbia River Basin, but Wasco and Wheeler Counties are expected to see gusts near 30 mph arriving from the west.

Slightly cooler air is slated for Sunday with highs in the upper 70s to low 80s. Skies should be mostly clear and the cooler air will be welcomed by our firefighters.

Monday starts a warming trend as highs hit the middle 80s followed by the low 90s on Tuesday and Wednesday. The first week of August looks to be on the hot side.

As for the fires, the Akawa Butte fire is looking good with most of the hot spots staying inside the perimeter.

The Bench Fire south of Warm Springs and just north of Billy Chinook continues to expand to the west and is now over 60k acres. Areal efforts will continue with more intensity today over that fire.

The Rowe Creek Complex West Zone is still hot on the perimeter and impacting the areas with smoke late in the day. Rough terrain and slow burning, hot fuels are making it tough to get squared away, but progress is being made.  The hottest portions of the fire are still around the Green Mountain area northeast of Prineville and the Ochoco Highway near Crystal Creek.

The Shingle fire in Wheeler County is over 60k acres and still maintains a hot perimeter and is burning timber and underbrush, producing a good deal of smoke.

The Second Flat Fire in Harney County is heating up on the northwest part of the perimeter away from Burns. The southeast quadrant is not as hot as the firefighting efforts near Burns continue to keep the fire away from the town for now.

Overall, over 1.2 million and counting acres have been consumed by wildfires this season. That is the second highest number since 2015, only the record season of 2024 is higher. That year 1.9 million acres burned.

Below are the numbers as of Tuesday night, several fires have expanded, but this is an idea of where we are in the season so far.

Here is a look at the largest Oregon wildfires by size in the modern era.

Here are the largest fires so far this year, the numbers continue to grow, and new updates will be provided at the end of the day.

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