Hot and dry pattern through the weekend, fire danger increases each day

After four days of triple digit heat, our sting is about to come to an end as we are likely to top out in the upper 90s today. This is still a very hot scenario as well as dangerous so please stay diligent with your heat related precautions. Portions of Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson counties are under an Excessive Heat Warning until late this evening.

Other aspects of the current heat wave include the high fire danger and the evaporation of moisture in our water table.  The fires have been occurring regularly each afternoon as it has been an active couple of days.  The dry fuel on the ground, the dry air and the breezy pattern combine with the high heat and we have a recipe for rapid fire growth.  A Fire Weather Warning is in place for portions of the area until tonight.  This may be extended.

The dry ground and lower water levels in area lakes and reservoirs is beginning to get noticed. It is a natural process to see evaporation and reduction of area waterways, but this heat is accelerating that issue. We are not officially in a drought scenario, but we are abnormally dry, and this heat is not helping. The Drought Monitor gets released by the Climate Prediction Center each Thursday and I will update you, of course, on the drought situation.

Here are a few nuggets about this recent heat wave:

The record number of consecutive days at or above 100 in Bend is 4, so we have tied that mark this week. Also, Bend has only hit 100 degrees in a calendar year 5 times, that was in 2022, so far this year we are at 4 days.

Stay Safe

Please monitor the alert banner at the top of the page for any updates to our heat and fire weather alerts.

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