Heat and drought fuels western wildfires, more historic heat forecast next week
AgDay 07/15/21 - Wildfires
Heat and dry conditions aren't helping the wildfire situation in the West. Right now, 67 large fires are burning across the U.S., scorching nearly 918,000 acres in 12 states.
Taking priority, the Snake River Complex wildfire near Spokane, Washington. It actually comprises three wildfires that were all started by lighting.
California has already seen more than three times as much land burned this year than the same period last year.
The Beckwourth Complex fire is the largest burning in the state. Firefighters describing the fire situation as the most extreme.
"I'm more worried about this wind," Bob Schoenstein, a resident of Doyle, Calif. "That fire can be on the other side of that mountain and it could embers down in the middle of this town and burn this town to the ground."
This is a time lapse video of another wildfire.This one along the Oregon and California border. The Bootleg Wildfire has already scorched more than 200,000 acres.
Areas of smoke look to linger across the eastern Dakota's through tonight. Smoke may return from both Canadian wildfires and fires across the western U.S. on Tuesday. Those sensitive to smoke may want to be mindful of potential increases in smoke activity this week. #ndwx pic.twitter.com/8XiuYGSKH2 — NWS Bismarck (@NWSBismarck) July 12, 2021
As the fires and smoke continue to spread, the heat is making matters worse, with more historic heat forecast next week. Heat advisories and excessive-heat warnings continued to cover the weather map Tuesday from interior California to the Canadian border in eastern Washington state.The wildfire worries are also creating concerns in Canada. Farmers there are battling drought, as well, with farmers' production outlooks waning.
