The heat continues, fire danger remains high, air quality is poor, 80s late week
The pattern of heat and dry conditions continue through the middle of the week as highs will stay above 90° until Wednesday. The record of 19 consecutive days over 90 was tied today and we will re-write the record books tomorrow. In fact, we continue to monitor several records that will fall this month as we are on pace for the hottest July ever in Bend.
The heat has been a major topic of the meteorological community this month, but a by-product of the heat has been the wildfires. There are over 500k acres listed as active wildfires in the state of Oregon. That number is growing quickly. Most of the large fires are in Eastern Oregon, and the winds are transporting most of the smoke from them to the east.
The air quality is poor in Central Oregon due to the fact that dozens of smaller (relatively) fires are burning over the Cascades and eastern slopes.
Air Quality alerts are being posted through the region, please prepare properly for the unhealthy pattern ahead. Stay inside as often as possible, a mask may not be a bad idea as well.
Not much relief in sight as far as the fires are concerned, as the winds may pick up over the next couple of days. The heat will be returning to normal by Thursday, but the feature responsible for the less hot weather (a deep trough over the Pacific now) will provide gusty winds Tuesday and Wednesday.
What we need is an atmospheric river weather scenario allowing the area to get some soaking rains for several hours. This will help to scour out the smoke and dampen the soils. Unfortunately, what we have had and what is in the immediate future, are isolated showers and storms that only fan the flames and possibly ignite more fires with the dry lightning.
Not a great week ahead for firefighters. Gusty at times, dry fuel on the ground, dry air and hot.
Stay Safe
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