Fire Weather Warning for Eastern Oregon region and beyond

By Shannon Weidemann (McKone) on Thursday, August 5th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News Columbia Basin Top Stories Eastern/Southeast Oregon News Eastern/Southeast Oregon Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News Northeastern Oregon Top Stories

OREGON – Beginning: 2021-08-05T20:47:00 Ending: 2021-08-06T06:00:00

DESCHUTES NATIONAL FOREST – MINUS SISTERS RANGER DISTRICT- CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF OREGON-LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN OF OREGON- SOUTHERN BLUE AND STRAWBERRY MOUNTAINS- NORTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON-CENTRAL BLUE MOUNTAINS- WALLOWA DISTRICT-LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN OF WASHINGTON- BLUE MOUNTAINS OF WASHINGTON-ASOTIN COUNTY- 147 PM PDT THU AUG 5 2021

…RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM PDT THIS EVENING FOR ABUNDANT LIGHTNING FOR FIRE WEATHER ZONES OR611, OR640, OR641, WA641, OR642, OR643, OR644, OR645, WA643, AND WA645……
* AFFECTED AREA…FIRE WEATHER ZONES 611 DESCHUTES NATIONAL FOREST -MINUS SISTERS RANGER DISTRICT, 640 CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF OREGON, 641 LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN OF OREGON, 641 LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN OF WASHINGTON, 642 SOUTHERN BLUE AND STRAWBERRY MOUNTAINS, 643 NORTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON, 643 BLUE MOUNTAINS OF WASHINGTON, 644 CENTRAL BLUE MOUNTAINS, 645 WALLOWA DISTRICT AND 645 ASOTIN COUNTY.

* IMPACTS. . THE POTENTIAL FOR ABUNDANT LIGHTNING COMBINED WITH VERY DRY FUELS MAY RESULT IN NEW FIRE STARTS.
GUSTY THUNDERSTORM WINDS MAY ALSO PROMOTE INCREASED FIRE SPREAD.
* THUNDERSTORMS. . SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WITH LAL’S OF 3 TO 4.
* OUTFLOW WINDS… THUNDERSTORMS WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE WIND GUSTS OF 30 TO 50 MPH.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW. … OR WILL SHORTLY.

A COMBINATION OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH ABUNDANT LIGHTNING AND DRY FUELS CAN CONTRIBUTE TO NEW FIRE STARTS AND GUSTY THUNDERSTORM WINDS CAN PROMOTE EXTREME FIRE BEHAVIOR