Wildfires rage across parched western US as smoke chokes the sky
By
Renee Duff, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Updated Jul 15, 2021 12:42 PM EST
Torrid weather conditions have fueled dozens of wildfires across the western United States, filling the sky with toxic smoke and leading to a number of evacuations and charred structures. Unfortunately, AccuWeather meteorologists say that Mother Nature will be of no assistance to fire crews in their battle.
The National Interagency Fire Center reports that there are 68 active large fires across the nation, with a vast majority of these raging in the West.
While Idaho, Arizona and Montana have the most active wildfires per state as of Thursday morning, two of the largest fires in terms of acreage burned are charring land in northeastern California and southern Oregon -- the Beckwourth Complex and Bootleg Fire, respectively. Both of these blazes have prompted the evacuation of thousands of residents in nearby towns and destroyed dozens of homes and outbuildings, according to The Associated Press.
On Wednesday evening, the NIFC raised the National Preparedness level to 5 due to high fire activity across the U.S. and the resources committed to large fires. This is the earliest move to a level 5 in a decade.
This photo provided by the Oregon Department of Forestry shows a firefighting tanker making a retardant drop over the Grandview Fire near Sisters, Ore., Sunday, July 11, 2021. (Oregon Department of Forestry via AP)
To make matters worse, the extensive amount of smoke being emitted by all of the blazes is affecting areas well outside the reach of the fires.
"The impacts from wildfires can be felt many miles, even hundreds of miles, away from its source. The smoke created by the wildfires across the West is being transported downwind far from its origin and creating widespread poor air quality and hazy skies," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Mike LeSeney said.
This image taken on Thursday, July 15, 2021, shows smoky skies as light gray over the interior northwestern United States. (CIRA at Colorado State/GOES-West)
Air quality alerts remain active for portions of Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado due to smoky conditions.
"The weather across the areas being greatly impacted by smoke will change little over the next few days," LeSeney said. He added that this will allow smoke particulates to build up from eastern Oregon and eastern Washington before floating across Idaho and into northern Nevada and Utah.
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Poor to unhealthy air quality levels were being reported across portions of the West early Wednesday morning. Residents can check specific air quality levels for a particular location on AccuWeather.com or the AccuWeather app.
"The high concentration of smoke particulates can irritate the eyes, lungs and can worsen some medical conditions," LeSeney said.
The region could use a thorough soaking or an infiltration of cooler air to help disperse the smoke and assist fire crews in containing the flames. However, forecasters do not see either of these events on the horizon.
"The atmosphere about the West generally, and the Northwest specifically, will remain tragically dry. There are no indicators for at least the next week that the moisture in the Southwest will move northward or that moisture will build in from the west," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Matt Rinde said.
The dry weather will only worsen the drought conditions which are impacting over 93% of the West.
"Winds can also play a factor on how fires that have already developed will continue to spread. The strongest winds throughout the week will be mostly in the afternoon and early evening and could really hinder containment efforts," Rinde said.
Heat will only make things worse for fire crews as high temperatures remain above average through the week, with widespread readings in the 90s and 100s F. AccuWeather's long-range forecast team expects temperatures to only increase over the weekend and into next week.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier, Spectrum, FuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios.
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News / Weather Forecasts
Wildfires rage across parched western US as smoke chokes the sky
By Renee Duff, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Updated Jul 15, 2021 12:42 PM EST
Torrid weather conditions have fueled dozens of wildfires across the western United States, filling the sky with toxic smoke and leading to a number of evacuations and charred structures. Unfortunately, AccuWeather meteorologists say that Mother Nature will be of no assistance to fire crews in their battle.
The National Interagency Fire Center reports that there are 68 active large fires across the nation, with a vast majority of these raging in the West.
While Idaho, Arizona and Montana have the most active wildfires per state as of Thursday morning, two of the largest fires in terms of acreage burned are charring land in northeastern California and southern Oregon -- the Beckwourth Complex and Bootleg Fire, respectively. Both of these blazes have prompted the evacuation of thousands of residents in nearby towns and destroyed dozens of homes and outbuildings, according to The Associated Press.
On Wednesday evening, the NIFC raised the National Preparedness level to 5 due to high fire activity across the U.S. and the resources committed to large fires. This is the earliest move to a level 5 in a decade.
This photo provided by the Oregon Department of Forestry shows a firefighting tanker making a retardant drop over the Grandview Fire near Sisters, Ore., Sunday, July 11, 2021. (Oregon Department of Forestry via AP)
To make matters worse, the extensive amount of smoke being emitted by all of the blazes is affecting areas well outside the reach of the fires.
"The impacts from wildfires can be felt many miles, even hundreds of miles, away from its source. The smoke created by the wildfires across the West is being transported downwind far from its origin and creating widespread poor air quality and hazy skies," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Mike LeSeney said.
This image taken on Thursday, July 15, 2021, shows smoky skies as light gray over the interior northwestern United States. (CIRA at Colorado State/GOES-West)
Air quality alerts remain active for portions of Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado due to smoky conditions.
"The weather across the areas being greatly impacted by smoke will change little over the next few days," LeSeney said. He added that this will allow smoke particulates to build up from eastern Oregon and eastern Washington before floating across Idaho and into northern Nevada and Utah.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
Poor to unhealthy air quality levels were being reported across portions of the West early Wednesday morning. Residents can check specific air quality levels for a particular location on AccuWeather.com or the AccuWeather app.
"The high concentration of smoke particulates can irritate the eyes, lungs and can worsen some medical conditions," LeSeney said.
The region could use a thorough soaking or an infiltration of cooler air to help disperse the smoke and assist fire crews in containing the flames. However, forecasters do not see either of these events on the horizon.
"The atmosphere about the West generally, and the Northwest specifically, will remain tragically dry. There are no indicators for at least the next week that the moisture in the Southwest will move northward or that moisture will build in from the west," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Matt Rinde said.
The dry weather will only worsen the drought conditions which are impacting over 93% of the West.
"Winds can also play a factor on how fires that have already developed will continue to spread. The strongest winds throughout the week will be mostly in the afternoon and early evening and could really hinder containment efforts," Rinde said.
Heat will only make things worse for fire crews as high temperatures remain above average through the week, with widespread readings in the 90s and 100s F. AccuWeather's long-range forecast team expects temperatures to only increase over the weekend and into next week.
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Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier, Spectrum, FuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios.
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