Less heat this week, still smoky and dry

Bend, Ore (KTVZ) – The weekend provided us with a change in the overall hot weather and moving into the work week, the temperatures are “less hot” but still above normal. Our normal high temperatures are in the middle 80s through most of Central Oregon, so upper 80s is warmer than normal, but not near 100, like last week.

The week will remain dry as there is little change in the moisture outlook over the next few days. The Pacific Northwest will start to see some moisture arrive across the Portland area and Washington State begin to get some light rain. Central Oregon will stay dry, but there is a chance for a few showers over the weekend.  This is still well out into the future, but at the moment it looks like some scattered showers may arrive Saturday. The jury is still out on this, but there is some hope of a little rain at least. Hopefully, no thunderstorms.

As for the temperatures this week, expect to see highs in the upper 80s Tuesday followed by the low 80s the rest of the week.

Winds are not likely to be all that robust, but we are still going to see some breezy conditions at times. Overall, the region is still having to deal with the smoke from all the smoldering fires and the active ones. The most active fire in the Tri-Counties is still the southern section of the Rowe Creek Complex West Zone. This is the fire near Prineville. Highway 26 is closed until further notice as the fire crossed the highway in some areas and is burning into the Ochocos south of 26. This is a rough go and the firefight is more defensive at this time. Containment lines are being developed as the fire runs to them. Often times in wildfire fighting, you must let the fire run to you, so you can fight it in an area you have prepared. This is the case in some portions of this fire.

The Grasshopper fire grew to 60k acres over the weekend and is progressing east, away from Mt. Hood.  The Wrights Spring Fire near Klamath Falls is at 47k acres and counting. Both of these fires are producing large smoke plumes that can be seen from space. Not directly impacting Central Oregon at this time.

Stay diligent this week as we have not seen rain for weeks, so we are tinder dry. Enjoy the region, but respect the dry conditions and use your head when out and about. We do not need any human caused fires, the lightning ones are bad enough. The Big Grass Fire is only about 10k acres from being the largest wildfire in Oregon history. If it passes 558k acres it will be larger than the Long Draw Fire of 2012. Currently the Big Grass Fire is at 554k. Not a record we wanted to break. We are also at 2.3 million acres burned, unofficially, making this the most active season in history.

Please, Stay safe and smart.

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