7/19/2021 Smoke Outlook for North Central Washington Areas near the Cedar Creek, Delancy, and Cub Creek 2 Wildfires

 

A detailed version of this outlook with live links can be found here: https://wildlandfiresmoke.net/outlooks/northcentralwashington

*This outlook was produced through the support of the incident management team assigned to the Cedar Creek, Delancy, and Cub Creek 2 fire to help inform nearby communities of smoke impacts.

7/19/2021 Smoke Outlook for South East Washington and Other Areas Downwind of the Lick Creek Fire

 A detailed version of this outlook with live links can be found here: https://wildlandfiresmoke.net/outlooks/sewashington 

*This outlook was produced through the support of the incident management team assigned to the Lick Creek fire to help inform nearby communities of smoke impacts.

7/18/2021 Smoke Outlook for North Central Washington

 A detailed version of this outlook with live links can be found here: https://wildlandfiresmoke.net/outlooks/northcentralwashington

*This outlook was produced through the support of the incident management team assigned to the Cedar Creek, Delancy, and Cub Creek 2 fire to help inform nearby communities of smoke impacts.

7/17/2021 Smoke Outlook for N. Central Washington

A detailed version of this outlook with live links can be found here: https://wildlandfiresmoke.net/outlooks/northcentralwashington

*This outlook was produced through the support of the incident management team assigned to the Cedar Creek, Delancy, and Cub Creek 2 fire to help inform nearby communities of smoke impacts.

Cool southwest winds = cloudier + smoke- free skies in Western WA. Head east for sunshine + heat + smoke

'nuff said about western WA, although the satellite map overlaid with fine particle pollution data is worth a glance. Green circles = Good air.

Judging by monitor readings, much of the smoke over parts of eastern WA is staying overhead and not mixing down to ground level. A strong-ish push of marine air since last evening has scoured out a lot of the smoke and will "cool" temperatures into the mid 80's/ low 90's today. Welcome relief... for now.

But these winds are also raising the stakes in the fire danger game. There is a small risk of dry thunderstorms on Saturday night. For Sunday and later, expect more warming and reduced smoke dispersion.

There is an Air Quality Alert in effect covering the areas below. 

North central WA

Fires burning in the Methow valley and on the Colville Reservation are puffing a lot of smoke, but the Red Apple fire west of Wenatchee is not. Models suggest most of this smoke will not accumulate until Sunday or later, except of course right by the fires. 

The wildcard however is new fires. 

Southeastern WA

The Lick Creek fire in Asotin County is expected to continue emitting smoke, but again, the build-up of smoke will mostly be confined to the vicinity of the fires until late in the weekend. Smoke from the Bootleg fire in southern Oregon will also deal a glancing blow to this area under southwesterly winds. The Dept of Ecology's 5-day smoke forecast (which also has clickable pop-ups for each area), shows the air degrading to USG on occasion. 

Lick Creek Smoke Outlook - Friday, July 16, 2021

  Please note, this outlook was produced through the support of the incident management team assigned to the Lick Creek fire to help inform nearby communities of smoke impacts

Lick Creek Smoke Outlook - July 15, 2021

 Note: This outlook was produced through the support of the incident management team assigned to the Lick Creek fire to help inform nearby communities of smoke impacts

Lick Creek Smoke Outlook - July 14, 2021

Note: This outlook was produced through the support of the incident management team assigned to the Lick Creek fire to help inform nearby communities of smoke impacts

New and continued fire growth affecting air quality

Many residents of Central and Eastern Washington have been getting impacted by new and existing fires in the region, with the worst smoke impacts occurring in the cooler hours.  The air has been getting a little better today as the smoke stays mostly aloft, but it will stick around with more smoke to be generated this week.

Nespelem (Colville Reservation):  The Chuweah Creek fire and other lightning ignitions in the area started yesterday in timber, grass, and brush.  Information is limited but some estimates show over 12,000 acres have burned in the area, with 3 homes lost.  Evacuations are in effect and structures are still threatened.  Thick plumes can be seen traveling south today in the GOES imagery, with sensors reporting USG to Unhealthy air in the Grand Coulee area.  Winds will likely push smoke east over the next few days, and fire growth is expected.

Asotin:  The Lick Creek fire grew nearly 9,000 acres yesterday and has burned over 55,000 acres in grass and brush since it started on July 7.  Crews are working hard to manage the fire.  A lot of the smoke will continue to move south, but residents in Clarkston and Asotin will continue to experience USG air intermittently throughout the week.

Mazama (NW of Methow): The Varden and Cedar Creek fires grew 400 acres yesterday and have burned almost 1,000 acres in timber.  The Methow Valley has had Moderate to USG air and this will likely continue throughout the week, depending on fire activity. 

N. of Yakima: The Burbank fire grew 6,000 acres yesterday in grass and brush and has burned 13,000 acres since July 10.  Smoke has caused intermittent Moderate air in the area.  Good news though, evacuations have been cancelled as the fire crews have made good progress and secured containment lines along I-82.   

Canadian smoke has also been impacting residents around Oroville, as over 300 fires burn in B.C. Expected winds this week should clear out the current Unhealthy air, but nighttime stability will allow intermittent smoke impacts in the area throughout the week.

Seattle and the rest of Western Washington should be clear of smoke for the week, with perhaps some intermittent Moderate air.

A fire weather watch is in effect for Central and Eastern Washington from Wednesday afternoon through Thursday evening. Gusty winds and low relative humidity will cause fires to spread more easily.  A cold front should move through Thursday and increase relative humidity, but winds will still be a concern for fire growth.  Looks like it's going to be more ups and downs with the weather!  Please use caution when recreating or working near dry vegetation, as fire can ignite and spread easily in these conditions. 

 

07/12/2021 Wildfires in and Around Washington

Update 2 (7/13/21): New large fire "Chuweah Creek" north of Coulee Dam, near Nespelem on the Colville Reservation.

Update since posting*: The Dry Gulch Fire has been renamed Lick Creek.

Wildfire season has arrived in the Pacific Northwest and we have a few fires of note in Washington. The largest is the Dry Gulch fire in the SE corner of the state. Much of the smoke from this fire is traveling east today and into Idaho but that was not the case a couple of days ago when monitors from Dayton to Clarkston and surrounding areas registered smoky conditions. Dry Gulch has a Type 1 incident management team assigned meaning it’s recognized as a complex wildfire. We expect a specialist called an Air Resource Advisor to arrive later in the week to provide some extra focus on air quality forecasting for the vicinity. The Green Ridge fire is also burning in the area. Though not in Washington, the Snake River Complex in Idaho is nearby and could cause smoke issues in Washington depending on wind direction.

Dry Gulch. IMT1. 2 mi SW of Asotin, WA. Start 7/7. Full Suppression. Cause: Lightning. 46,352 acres. (+8,129) 20% containment. Active fire behavior. Grass and brush. Structures threatened. Evacuations in effect. Road, trail and area closures. Details on Dry Gulch  available here: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7615/

Green Ridge. IMT2. 30 mi E of Walla Walla, WA. Start 7/7. Full Suppression. Cause: Lightning. 175 acres (+32). 0% containment. Active fire behavior. Timber and grass. Road, trail and area closures. Details on Green Ridge available here: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7628/

Details on Snake River Complex available here: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7636/

Above: Map showing wildfires in the vicinity of SE Washington for 7/12/2021. Bright red spots show where significant heat has been detected by satellite in the last 12 hours.

 In addition, there are two new fires in Washington that are not very large at the moment although they are contributing smoke to the Methow Valley area from Mazama to Brewster and over to Omak. The Varden fire is close enough to the road that the State Dept. of Transportation has closed Hwy 20. Got Facebook? The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Facebook page is a great source for local fire information. https://www.facebook.com/OkaWenNF/

Varden. 5 mi southwest of Mazama, WA. Start 7/11. Monitor/Confine/Full Suppression. Cause: Lightning. 700 acres. 0% contained. Moderate fire behavior. Timber.

Cedar Creek. 5 mi southwest of Mazama, WA. Start 7/8. Full Suppression. Cause: Lightning. 75 acres. 0% contained. Moderate fire behavior. Timber.

Above: Map showing wildfires in the vicinity of Mazama, WA on 7/12/2021. Bright red spots show where significant heat has been detected by satellite in the last 12 hours.

And there is one more fire in Washington that is causing some trouble. The Burbank fire near Yakima and Selah is impacting travel on I-82. The fire seems to be burning mostly in light brush and grass fuels so is not putting out large amounts of smoke.

Burbank. 8 mi northeast of Yakima, WA. Start 7/10. Full Suppression. Cause: Unknown. 6,000 acres. 10% contained. Extreme fire behavior. Grass and brush. Structures threatened. Evacuations in effect. Road, trail and area closures. Details on Burbank available here: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7650/

 

Above: Map showing the location of the Burbank fire on 7/12/2021. Bright red spots show where significant heat has been detected by satellite in the last 12 hours.

So that concludes the summary of significant wildfires in Washington as of today. There are also wildfires all around us from British Columbia, to Oregon, to Idaho but for now at least, most of the smoke from these fires is staying away with the exception of a little high elevation haze visible on the west side of the state, and some haze plus low levels of smoke at the surface in NE Washington.

The best way to help our firefighters this year? Be careful out there so we can keep human caused fires to a minimum!