This summer, wildfire activity east of the Cascades has been above normal.Several media outlets and activist websites are claiming that this year's low snowpack is a major cause of the wildfires (see example below).Poor mountain snowpack an…
Good news for those of you who dislike heatwaves:There are none forecast over the Pacific Northwest for the next 10 days.Importantly, we are running out of time to experience a serious heatwave in our region.First, let's define what is mean…
This year, wildfire acreage in California has been well below average and are being eclipsed by the lightning-initiated wildfires over the Pacific Northwest. The nearly fire-free California situation is evident satelite/ fire image from yes…
On July 15/16, a massive lightning storm initiated several major wildfires east of the Cascade crest.As shown below, this was one of the most extreme lightning events in Northwest history.This story has escaped the notice of the media. Furt…
As expected, air quality is rapidly improving west of the Cascades, with the transition complete by tomorrow morning.You can see the changes in the west in the visible satellite imagery at 11 AM yesterday (top) and today (bottom)The smoke p…
As predicted, the winds aloft have turned easterly (from the east), resulting in smoke from eastern Washington moving aloft over western Washington.This is actually good news for eastern Washington, as it leads to reduced wildfire activity
One of the most interesting aspects of the current smoke/fire event is that it is occurring during a cold wave.Over the past few days, temperatures in eastern Washington have been well below normal. Not a heat wave associated with global wa…
As feared, the great enhancement of cool, westerly winds caused a large increase in eastern Washington wildfires, with the Little Giant Fire expanding to Lake Chelan.The change in visible satellite imagery yesterday shows the major changesE…
Rain is coming to western Washington and the Cascades during the climatologically driest time of the year.But there is an accompanying risk that needs to be mentioned. A severe enough risk that at least one local power company (Chelan PUD)
With the recent grass/range fires in Eastern Washington, there is some interest in whether conditions there have gotten drier or warmer. How unusual have precipitation and temperature been this year?Let's find out!I will start with the NOAA…
During the last few weeks, a series of wildfires have occurred over the region.Today's satellite imagery shows where the fires were burning (orange dots), with smoke plumes quite evident. Most of these fires began in grass/range vegetation.…
On Thursday around 5:15 PM, a Kenmore Air float plane crashed on the south side of Sucia Island in the San Juans. An image from the final seconds (shown below) does not suggest particularly strong winds at the surface, nor any precipitation…