Fire Weather Danger Threatens West

A combination of very dry conditions and thunderstorm chances has prompted a threat for fire weather over much of the pacific northwest. Check out all of the red flag warnings currently in effect as of 2pm CST:

The main cause for these fire weather concerns is the ongoing drought out west. Check out the current drought outlook for the western U.S., areas in drought correlate to areas under red flag warnings pretty well.

The second reason for fire weather concern is thunderstorm chances. An upper level low is currently spinning off the west coast of California and will push some moisture into the pacific northwest. This moisture will be enough to cause some thunderstorms across the region.

Thunderstorm chances sound great for an area of the country that needs rain. Unfortunately, these thunderstorms are in some very dry air meaning they could contain very little precipitation. These ‘dry thunderstorms‘ then go on to worsen the fire weather situation with lightning and gusty winds.

Fire weather concerns will remain in place through midweek until this area of low pressure makes its way onshore.