Tuesday marked the 6th consecutive day above 70 degrees at SeaTac Airport. That is the longest such streak in the month of April in over 125 years of record keeping in Seattle.
This record dry streak has prompted above normal fire danger across Washington State, with the Department of Natural Resources responding to over 90 wildfires in a week (ending Monday). Most of these fires have burned under 100 acres, but it is significant that so many fires are burning in April in the first place.
https://burnportal.dnr.wa.gov/
Below is a map from MyRadar Weather that shows an approximate number of fires that are currently burning around the state.
As you can see, northeast Washington has been hit particularly hard, with many small wildfires popping up, mainly due to strong winds and very dry conditions.
Western Washington has been impacted by these fires as well. Several small wildfires have occurred around the area, with some forcing the use of helicopter water drops and evacuations being issued.
Fires were reported in Eatonville, Lacey, Auburn, and even on the coast in Pacific County.
This brush fire burned about 10 acres on Friday just north of Eatonville.
The Green Valley Fire sparked due to an out of control burn pile on Sunday evening and has burned about 50 acres and is 75% contained as of Tuesday evening. The fire's spread was aided by winds and low humidity. Level 1 evacuations are in effect (briefly level 2 on Monday). Helicopter water drops were required on Sunday evening. The fire is difficult to contain due to the terrain of the area. The fire is located around 17100 SE Green Valley Road.
Updated information about the Green Valley Fire here: https://thenwfireblog.com/2021/04/20/day-3-green-valley-fire-continues/
Fires were even reported on the coast in Pacific County:
So...what role did weather play in these and other fires around Washington State?
We will specifically be focusing on conditions in Western Washington, but similar conditions brought fire danger in Eastern WA.
Below, I have made a list of minimum humidity in Puyallup since last Tuesday (4/13).
Tuesday, 4/13: 18%
Wednesday, 4/14: 22%
Thursday, 4/15: 21%
Friday, 4/16: 17%
Saturday, 4/17: 15%
Sunday, 4/18: 17%
Monday, 4/19: 26%
Tuesday, 4/20: 24%
Low humidity over the past week has been a key contributor to the large amount of small wildfires across the state. Average April humidity is 72%, meaning that in the past week, we have had humidity around 52% below average. This, combined with occasionally gusty winds and temperatures of 70-85 degrees, explain the large amount of fires popping up.
Expect fire danger to decrease by the end of the week and into the weekend, when higher humidity and rain return to the area.
An informative article from The News Tribune is below, talking about the upcoming summer fire season and what the recent fires mean for summer.
We are still a couple months from the start of summer fire season, and while wildfires are generally less frequent west of the Cascades, we saw this past September in Bonney Lake that fires can ignite in Western Washington.
It's never too early to prepare in the case of a wildfire. Here is a good graphic from the Washington DNR Wildfire Preparedness Site.
Stay safe and check out the links in this blog!
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