When it comes to Northwest wildfires, many only consider precipitation and temperature.
But for most Northwest wildfires during the summer, another element is more important: strong winds.
Recent grass and range fires in eastern Washington are prime examples of their "windy" origin.
For example, yesterday, there was a grass fire near Winthrop (see below). Strong winds were crucial.
A few weeks ago, large range fires (e.g., Juniper Dune, Tule Rd) were also forced by strong winds.
In a map of recent eastern Washington wildfires, virtually all were associated with strong winds (graphic courtesy of the Washington State Department of Ecology).
More than climate change warming, strong winds are the essential ingredient for the large grass/range fires in the region.
This week was a great example of strong winds, associated with cooler temperatures, leading to rapidly growing range/grass fires.
Consider the winds at Ellensburg from June 22 to today (below). Sustained winds are shown in blue and gusts with black dots.
A large acceleration of the winds started on June 26, with some gusts reaching over 50 mph!
As the winds increased, temperatures greatly COOLED at this location (see below).
Want to be impressed with how strong the winds have been this week, east of the Cascade crest?
Below are the maximum gusts yesterday (Sunday) over eastern Washington.
Wow. Many exceed 50 mph, and some reach over 60 mph.
No question that wind was a big factor in the spread of the recent fires in Eastern Washington. These were all grass/range fires and they absolutely require strong winds to become large. However, they were set up by the abundant winter and early spring moisture which resulted in a good growth of grass, then a drier late spring and a prolonged warm, dry period in mid June. While grass fires can occur during these cooler, windy days, there have not been any forest fires recently because temperatures have been cool, and humidity rather high in the forest areas. This will likely change in the near future if the current forecasts calling for increasing heat and dryness verify.
ReplyDeleteWe need to be thankful we're not on Venus. Fun fact it's hot enough to melt lead at the surface. The russians sent a probe and it lasted an hour.
ReplyDeleteIt probly safe to assume there's no piggly wiggly on venus.. or a jiffy lube
Around 5pm a very strong seabreeze is felt on hot days, over 80F, at the shoreline in Anacortes and Bayview/Edison. Go inland 50 feet higher-up and the effect is not present. I wonder why.
ReplyDeleteIt's a bummer to see a fire around the juniper dunes area. Juniper is quite rare in Washington state, and I'd hate to see a fire damage the one location in which it thrives.
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