Firefighters harnessed a temporary break of cooler weather and no new lightning fires this week to add miles and miles of new containment lines across more than two-dozen large wildfires on national forests in Oregon and Washington.
But after a short 72-hour reprieve, wildfire conditions across much of the Pacific Northwest have come roaring back.
The US Forest Service said August is showing nothing but hot, dry, windy conditions and dry lightning in this first week of the new month. Agency officials said the wildfire year is going to get worse before it gets better.
There are currently 25 large wildfires burning on national forests spanning from Southern Oregon to the Canadian border. While some fires received rain from the recent weather shift, most wildfires east of the Cascades received little or no moisture and are primed to ramp back up as fire conditions worsen this weekend.
In addition to these conditions, the incoming weather system may also support the growth of large smoke columns from any new or existing wildfires. Lightning potential is greatest on Saturday in Southern Oregon and expands Sunday into almost all of Eastern Oregon and into far northern areas of Central Washington.
Be smoke ready this summer by preparing yourself, your loved ones and your workplace for wildfire-related air quality impacts with low- and no-cost resources at "airnow.gov/wildfires/be-smoke-ready."
