Heat wave remains, fire concerns grow as we get hotter this weekend

The news doesn’t get better as we push on with the record breaking heat.  The string of 90° days stands now at 15 and we are on pace for at least 22. Over the past two weeks our highs have been at 90 or above, five of those days we were over 100. We are on pace for the hottest July of all time with respect to afternoon high temperatures. We are also on pace to break the all-time daily average temperature by several degrees as well.

The area of high pressure that has been responsible for the heat is not moving or yielding to a trough, it is building.  The high over the Four Corners is now gaining height, which means more heat and less chance of a cool down.  The weekend will be another hot one as the mercury in the thermometer will top the triple digits once again in Bend.

The change in the overall pattern will be small, and it will be for hotter weather not cooler weather. A dip in the jet stream over the Eastern Pacific will be deflected to the north this weekend, ending any hope of a cool down.

The fear that is coming to fruition is the fire danger. Not only did we have 12 straight days of hot and dry weather, but we had a run of thunderstorms cross the entire state Tuesday. There were dozens of new wildfires that were ignited by lightning during that event. Currently, Oregon has the most active fire footprints in the country with over 325,000 acres being consumed by active fires.

Stay Safe

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