Due to the intense heat, and the threat of lightning from an unusual low-pressure system that is parked over Eastern Washington, conditions for wild-fire are high.
Make sure to drink plenty of hydrating fluids in this hot weather! Here are a couple of reports from the National Weather Service:
forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=WAZ504&warncounty=WAC067&firewxzone=WAZ654&local_place1=Olympia+WA&product1=Red+Flag+Warning
Red Flag Warning
URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
834 AM PDT SAT JUL 25 2009
...ONE OF THE MOST CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER SETUPS IN YEARS FOR
WESTERN WASHINGTON...
.AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE CENTER CONTINUES TO SPIN OVER EASTERN
WASHINGTON THIS MORNING.
WAZ653-654-656>659-661-662-252345-
/O.NEW.KSEW.FW.W.0003.090725T2100Z-090726T1200Z/
STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA AND NORTHWEST INTERIOR LOWLANDS-
CENTRAL AND SOUTH PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS-
WEST SLOPES OF THE NORTH CASCADES-
WEST SLOPES OF THE CENTRAL CASCADES-NORTH CASCADES-
CENTRAL CASCADES-EAST PORTION OF THE OLYMPIC MOUNTAINS-
EAST PORTION OF NORTH CASCADES NATIONAL PARK/LAKE CHELAN NATIONAL
RECREATIONAL AREA-
834 AM PDT SAT JUL 25 2009
...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 5 AM
PDT SUNDAY...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 5 AM PDT
SUNDAY.
AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE CENTER WILL HELP THUNDERSTORMS TO
FIRST DEVELOP OVER THE NORTH CASCADES THIS AFTERNOON. ONCE STORMS
DEVELOP...THEY WILL FIRST MOVE IN AN UNUSUAL SOUTHWESTERLY
DIRECTION TOWARD THE NORTH INTERIOR OF WASHINGTON EARLY THIS
EVENING AND THEN SOUTH THROUGH THE CENTRAL CASCADES AND THE PUGET
SOUND LOWLANDS LATER THIS EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS COULD ALSO CLIP
THE EAST SLOPES OF THE OLYMPIC MOUNTAINS.
SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE UNUSUALLY PROLIFIC
LIGHTNING PRODUCERS. GIVEN THE EXPECTED ABUNDANCE OF LIGHTNING AND
CRITICALLY DRY FUEL STATES...MULTIPLE FIRE IGNITIONS ARE EXPECTED.
ONE THING THAT MAKES THIS ROUND OF LIGHTNING SO CRITICAL IS THAT
IT WILL BE FOLLOWED UP ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY BY A BUILDING HEAT
WAVE. UNLIKE WESTERN WASHINGTON`S TYPICAL LIGHTNING PATTERN WHICH
IS FOLLOWED BY COOL MARINE AIR...THIS LIGHTNING PATTERN WILL BE
FOLLOWED BY HOT...DRY AND INCREASINGLY UNSTABLE WEATHER ON
SUNDAY...MONDAY AND TUESDAY. THIS WILL MAKE HOLDOVER AND SLEEPER
FIRES A MUCH GREATER CONCERN THAN WITH A MORE TYPICAL LIGHTNING
EPISODE FOR WESTERN WASHINGTON.
PLEASE RELAY THIS MESSAGE TO FIRE AND ENGINE CREWS IN THE FIELD.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
PEOPLE WHO WILL BE OUTDOORS FROM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT
SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE LIGHTNING THREAT AND THE ENHANCED THREAT OF
WILDFIRES. MAKE AN EXTRA EFFORT TO FULLY EXTINGUISH CAMPFIRES AND
REPORT ANY NEW WILDFIRES WHICH YOU MIGHT SEE. FIREFIGHTING
AGENCIES SHOULD BE READY FOR SEVERAL BUSY DAYS OF INITIAL ATTACK.
A RED FLAG WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN DRY LIGHTNING OR THE COMBINATION
OF STRONG WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITIES ARE IMMINENT OR OCCURRING.
&&
$$
HANER
WEATHER.GOV/SEATTLE
Special Weather Statement
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
547 AM PDT SAT JUL 25 2009
WAZ001-503>519-260000-
SAN JUAN COUNTY-WESTERN WHATCOM COUNTY-SOUTHWEST INTERIOR-
EAST PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS-WESTERN SKAGIT COUNTY-EVERETT AND VICINITY-
SEATTLE/BREMERTON AREA-TACOMA AREA-ADMIRALTY INLET AREA-
HOOD CANAL AREA-LOWER CHEHALIS VALLEY AREA-OLYMPICS-
EASTERN STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-WESTERN STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-
NORTH COAST-CENTRAL COAST-WEST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES AND PASSES-
WEST SLOPES CENTRAL CASCADES AND PASSES-
547 AM PDT SAT JUL 25 2009
...HOT WEATHER IS IN STORE FOR WESTERN WASHINGTON...
TEMPERATURES WILL ONCE AGAIN CLIMB ABOVE NORMAL THIS WEEKEND FOR
MOST OF WESTERN WASHINGTON...WITH VERY HOT WEATHER PERSISTING
THROUGH MUCH OF NEXT WEEK. DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL CLIMB INTO
THE 85 TO 95 DEGREE RANGE ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA. OVERNIGHT LOWS
ARE ALSO EXPECTED TO BE QUITE MILD...IN THE UPPER 50S TO MID 60S AT
MANY PLACES. THIS WILL MAKE FOR THE WARMEST WEATHER OF THE YEAR SO
FAR...WITH TEMPERATURES APPROACHING RECORD VALUES.
IT APPEARS THAT THE WARMEST DAYS WILL BE MONDAY THROUGH
THURSDAY...PARTICULARLY OVER THE INTERIOR. IT IS RARE TO HAVE
SEVERAL HOT DAYS IN A ROW IN WESTERN WASHINGTON...AS IS THE CASE
HERE. TEMPERATURES MAY RETURN TO NORMAL EARLY NEXT WEEKEND.
PERSISTENT DRY WEATHER ALONG WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR LIGHTNING THIS
WEEKEND...FOLLOWED BY HOT WEATHER NEXT WEEK...WILL ONLY
INCREASE THE CONCERN FOR MORE WILDFIRES IN WESTERN WASHINGTON. THIS
UPCOMING WEATHER PATTERN MAY ALSO LEAD TO DETERIORATING AIR QUALITY
IN THE REGION.
MONITOR FORECASTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE
FOR UPDATES ON THIS EVENT.
$$
Incident Tracking
Submitted by CIAGuy on Sat, 07/25/2009 - 5:37pm.If you want to keep track of active wildfires in the state you can go here, InciWeb: the Incident Information System.
NB, this list is just for Washington. If you want to see a list of all active wildfires, click the main InciWeb logo.
This coming week looks to be brutal
Submitted by Laurian on Sat, 07/25/2009 - 7:41pm.I hope that we get some of that T-storm action down here before it goes away. I do wonder why these storms will be UNUSUALLY PROLIFIC LIGHTNING PRODUCERS. Sadly, Cliff Mass is mute on this.
Good luck to all this coming week. Water the pets, check on the neighbors, drink lots of naturally chilled artesian water and above all be patient. Remember, this too shall pass.
In closing I'll share a bit of wisdom about hot weather I gleaned from my short residency in Memphis Tennessee. Don't acknowledge the heat. When some fool says to you "Hot ain't it!", smile and gently reply, "Hot? No, not really. Quite warm I grant you, but hot? No. I've seen hotter." This wisdom is better recieved if spoken slowly with a hint of a Mid-South drawl and an invitation to partake mint juleps in the late afternoon.
How very Zen of you Laurian
Submitted by Rob Richards on Sun, 07/26/2009 - 2:01pm.Thank you Rob
Submitted by Laurian on Sun, 07/26/2009 - 3:48pm.From Cliff Mass
Submitted by CIAGuy on Sun, 07/26/2009 - 7:32am.and his outstanding weather blog:
"Heat waves actually are the most dangerous weather phenomenon around the world...many more people die from them then hurricanes, tornadoes, and windstorms. And the elderly are the most vulnerable...particularly those without air conditioning (which includes most people in our region). So if you know some older folks in a hot apartment or house...it is good to check on them."
emphasis added
Major Heat Wave and Possible Record
Submitted by Sarah on Tue, 07/28/2009 - 5:31am."very serious weather event"
Submitted by Sarah on Tue, 07/28/2009 - 6:27am.One record down, one to go?
Submitted by Sarah on Wed, 07/29/2009 - 11:04am.Fire in the Olympic Mountains?
Submitted by Berd on Wed, 07/29/2009 - 5:37pm.I just checked the latest satellite image at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and there what looks like the tell-tale sign that a significant fire burning in the Olympics. What looks like a smoke plume, visible from the satellite, is drifting SE.
It also looks like the cloud mass that has formed over the Eastern mountains is spreading westward, radar showed thunderstorms East of Seattle. Will we get any around here?