Yes, I guess this is the blessing we can get. The long term drought and lack of snow pack combined with two major thunderstorm outbreaks is to blame for this. When I saw all the lightning in the Harney Basin on Wednesday, I knew that was going to be the next hotspot and it certainly has been. Both of these outbreaks will probably end up burning 750,000 acres. For context the amount of acreage burning in the fires I listed above is similar to the Labor Day fires of 2020. Those fires mostly burned high value timber and thus put off a lot more smoke. Most of these fires are juniper and shrubland, though there are some ponderosa and lodgepole forests going up.

Beneficial reduction of fuels.

Been hoping this super Nino would start doing some super Nino things around the PNW and give us an uber wet early fall with heavy soaking rains in August and September. The next 7-10 days look fairly cool and maybe a little rain…but not really enough to do anything with the big fires in the region. Just enough to keep the smoke blowing east for now.

79 dewpoint down here would feel great!! It was 77 dewpoint all night! Then 80 to 88 dewpoint all day. I even saw a 90 dewpoint in north Iowa!

Coleman Creek in Harney/Malheur counties just updated and its now 126,931 the Hat Fire just SE of that near the Sheephead Mountains is at 41,728 acres now.