Fire Season Continues in Central Washington

The calendar has flipped to October but wildfires continue to burn in central Washington. 

Rainfall in western Washington was significant and beneficial this week, especially over the Bear Gulch Fire where observations suggest 1-4" of precipitation across the fire footprint. This has allowed fire activity to significantly decrease and all evacuation levels for the fire have been lifted. With the shorter days and cooler temperatures, Bear Gulch may have trouble growing further unless a major weather change occurs in the next few weeks.

East of the Cascades, however, much less rainfall was observed. The Wildcat, Lower Sugarloaf, and Labor Mountain Fires all received some rain, but generally less than 0.50". All three of these fires are still burning and producing smoke, with Lower Sugarloaf and Labor Mountain being the most active. 

Central Washington received a brief reprieve from heavy smoke impacts in the last few days but PM2.5 concentrations are starting to climb back up again. Wenatchee is reporting UNHEALTHY air quality this morning and other nearby monitors in the region are reporting MODERATE to UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS. 

Recent air quality index values across central Washington, data via WA Dept of Ecology.

Looking ahead, shifting winds over the weekend into early next week could bring smoke from central WA wildfires into different portions of the state. This is especially true Sunday-Monday when N/NE winds could bring light to moderate amounts of smoke a bit further south and west into the Cascades. It's also possible that very light amounts of smoke could even reach westside communities in SW Washington by Monday, but any smoke reaching that area would likely remain at low concentrations. Onshore winds then return towards the middle of next week which would clear out any minor smoke impacts in western WA. 

Lookout on Division U of the Lower Sugarloaf Fire, Thursday, October 2. Photo by Ranae Pape, Public Information Officer, retrieved via Inciweb. 

The bottom line is that crews continue to make progress on the fires in central WA, but a drier and warmer weather pattern will continue challenging containment efforts through at least the early part of next week. Until we get a more significant weather change in that area, smoke production is likely to continue with occasional air quality impacts in the surrounding communities. 

We'll continue our blog updates until wildfire season ends for good!