Warm and dry pattern remains, heating up Friday, clouds Saturday

Bend, Ore (KTVZ) – As the wildfires continue to dominate the weather headlines, the overall weather pattern in Central Oregon remains very warm and dry. The winds have relaxed since the weekend allowing the fire fighting efforts to improve. Moving forward tomorrow and Thursday, the forecast is similar to today, highs in the upper 80s and breezy.

A quick tour around the region as far as fire behavior and suppression is concerned shows varying degrees of success. In the west, the Akawa Butte fire suppression is positive with little growth outside the perimeter, if any, and containment efforts gaining ground. As for the Bench fire, it has grown west toward the Cascades and is still showing significant heat west. The good news is that the northeastern portion of the fire, near Warm Springs is cooler.

As for the Ochoco Mountains, the Rowe Creek West complex, (formerly the Brewer, Green Mtn. and Box Springs Fires) are very hot near the Green Mountain area and significant smoke is being generated. The containment fight is around the southern and eastern sections of the blaze as the teams develop defensive positions to prevent further movement south. This will look ominous today as the plumes will grow impressively, but the efforts are defensive in nature, so the fire is being allowed to creep into the lines of defense. The Shingle Fire to the east in the Ochoco’s is very hot and has a good deal of hot spots. Again, rugged terrain and a hot fire will hamper suppression efforts today, but overall, an attack plan is setting up for success.

 The Coyote and Henry fires in Central and Eastern Crook County are getting higher containment numbers. In Harney County the Second Flat Fire is being attacked at the SE perimeter and has been allowed to burn to the protection lines keeping Burns residents safe for now.  The team reports that they are pleased with the strategy.

As for the weather into the weekend, we will spike into the 90s Friday but it should be short lived. There will be some showers along the coast early Saturday leading to Central Oregon getting cooler and partly cloudy. Unfortunately, the winds will pick up Saturday, impacting fire fighting efforts.

Middle to low 80s over the weekend with Sunday’s highs in the upper 70s in some spots under partly cloudy skies.

Please, Stay safe and smart.

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