In tonight’s Lookout Livestream, we review maps and intel for the Pacific Northwest to try to get a handle on which fires might have the greatest potential for radical spread with tomorrow’s forecast for extreme fire spread weather conditions. Any fire which is currently still active has potential, but the following ones stand out:
- The West Zone of Rowe Creek Complex (Brewer and Box Springs Fires)
- The Coleman Creek Fire, near Juntura – will spread majorly to east and southeast
- The Sinlahekin Fire, west of Tonasket – potential to spread east and south
- The Grasshopper Fire, east of Mount Hood
- The Big Grass Fire – SE farther into Idaho
We also talk about how the large fires in the Landes Forest of France were able to grow rapidly due to extreme heat and a lack of a marine layer, or fog, which often blankets the area in the summer. We posit that climate change and extreme ocean temperatures could affect changes in the frequency and distribution of the marine layer on the West Coast of California, which could lead to fires in the extremely heavy fuels which have accumulated here in the absence of regular wildfire. For example, around Fort Bragg, California. This is not a prediction for this year, but for the future, in general.
Watch the Lookout Livestream, here, and check back for a text summary and graphics.