Unhealthy Air Quality tonight
BEND, Ore (KTVZ). The Emigrant Fire, located on the border between Douglas and Lane Counties is about 9000 acres. This fire is burning timber and dead trees and ground litter from a previous fire and is generating a great deal of smoke. The location is southwest of the Tri-Counties in the Cascades. The wind is blowing from the southwest to the northeast, transporting the smoke toward La Pine, Sunriver, Sisters and Bend.
As the Flat Fire is winding down, with hot spots in the interior, but little smoke, this blaze provides the area with a massive amount of smoke.
The Air Quality in La Pine and Sunriver is very unhealthy. The winds are relaxing a bit tonight, but we the smoke that is already here will linger and sink to the surface in the cooler night air. Be prepared for a continuation of the poor air quality overnight and tomorrow.
As for the weather forecasts, plenty of sunshine and dry conditions will be present as the week comes to a close. There is an area of low pressure off the coast that will provide a warm southwest flow of air to Oregon allowing us to get into the 90s for the next several days. We will be in the low 90s or upper 80s over the weekend, so we continue to hang on to the above normal heat.
The winds do not seem to be much of a factor, light winds and breezy conditions will be observed the rest of the week. Sunday may see an uptick in the wind speed late in the day, but generally light winds this weekend. Breezy conditions are likely on Labor Day as well.
Speaking of Labor Day, it will be mostly sunny and very warm to almost hot. There will be a bit of a breeze as mentioned above, but not to overwhelming. High temperatures will top out in the low 90s, about 10 or 12 degrees above normal for early September. Labor Day is also the first day of the meteorological autumn.
The skies are expected to stay mostly cloud free for the next couple of days as well. There will be some fair-weather clouds drifting overhead, but mostly sunny days and clear nights are likely.
This is the last weekend of the meteorological summer as we close out the three month period defining summer by temperature. The astronomical summer ends on the Autumnal Equinox, which this year is September 22 at 11:19 am local time.
Stay safe.
Don’t forget to download the KTVZ weather app to stay safe and informed.
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ktvz-local-alert-weather-app/id1088330817
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ktvz.android.weather&hl=en_US
