textproduct: Pendleton

KEY MESSAGES

- Elevated to critical fire weather conditions into early next week, due to breezy conditions, low RH. Hot temperatures will continue for the next couple of days before cooling down.

- Increasing westerly flow should bring at least some improvement to the smoky conditions through the weekend.

- Widespread moderate to locally major HeatRisk today with high temperatures in the upper 90s to near 100 degrees in many areas.

DISCUSSION

High pressure remains near the four corners. Flow around it will become more westerly over the next couple of days. As the flow becomes more westerly, especially today and Saturday, pressure gradients will increase. This will allow for winds to become gusty.

Winds will gust in the 20 to 30 mph range in the Kittitas Valley, Simcoe Highlands, Columbia Basin, Gorge and Foothills of the Blue Mountains today. On Saturday, winds could gust up to 35 mph, and possibly even 40 mph in these same areas.

NBM probabilities of wind gusts >=25 mph are >80 percent across much of these areas both today and Saturday. However, with the exception of the Kittitas Valley, NBM probabilities of wind gusts >=39 mph are generally 40 percent or less today and 70 percent or less on Saturday.

Winds do decrease from Sunday through Wednesday, but remain gusty in these areas in the 20 to 25 mph range, with Monday and Tuesday looking to be the breeziest.

The winds and continued low RH will yield elevated to critical fire weather concerns and red flag warnings remain in effect through Saturday. Beyond that, the decreased winds and temperatures should keep concerns elevated, but probably not critical.

The increased westerly flow will also help clear out the smoke through the weekend

High temperatures this afternoon will once again be in the mid to upper 90s to around 100 degrees with smoke likely preventing temperatures from getting as high as they otherwise could be. HeatRisk is expected to be widespread moderate to locally major in portions of the Colombia Basin.s

AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z SATURDAY/

TAFS range from VFR to MVFR this morning. Expect this trend to continue, though some IFR can not be ruled out as impacts from smoke from area wildfires continue to impact TAF sites. Hopefully, there will be some improvement over the weekend as westerly flow moves in.

With the exception of PSC and YKM, winds will increase this afternoon/evening and gust to around 20 kts before decreasing to 10 kts or less.

FIRE WEATHER

As westerly flow increases across the area today into Saturday, winds will become gusty in the 25 to 35 mph range with some areas as high as 40 mph, for the Simcoe Highlands, Kittitas Valley, Columbia Basin and Gorge. hose winds and the low RH values already in place will combine to create elevated to critical fire weather conditions today into Saturday and Red Flag Warnings are already in effect.

Diurnal breezes will continue Sunday through Wednesday, with gusts generally in the 25 to 30 mph range. However, temperatures will be a bit cooler as well. RH values will remain low. Monday and Tuesday look to be the breeziest days. Elevated conditions are expected, but we should remain shy of widespread critical conditions.

Preliminary Point Temps/PoPs

PDT 97 59 93 59 / 0 0 0 0 ALW 98 66 94 64 / 0 0 0 0 PSC 100 61 97 59 / 0 0 0 0 YKM 99 62 95 60 / 0 0 0 0 HRI 99 64 95 62 / 0 0 0 0 ELN 94 63 89 60 / 0 0 0 0 RDM 98 52 93 48 / 0 0 0 0 LGD 100 59 95 57 / 0 0 0 0 GCD 100 58 96 55 / 0 0 0 0 DLS 96 63 93 62 / 0 0 0 0

PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

WA...Red Flag Warning from 11 AM this morning to 11 PM PDT Saturday for WAZ690-691. Air Quality Alert until 5 AM PDT Tuesday for WAZ024-026>030- 521>523. OR...Air Quality Alert until noon PDT today for ORZ041-044-049-050- 502-503-505>511. Red Flag Warning from 11 AM this morning to 11 PM PDT Saturday for ORZ691-701-703.