Dry pattern continues through the weekend, high fire danger, temperatures return to normal

The region will once again reach the 90° mark today as the heat and dry pattern remain. This will be changing over the weekend as highs will be in the mid-80s both Saturday and Sunday.  Normal high temperatures are the mid-80s, so a return to normal is the order of the weekend.

The dry air, dry fuel on the ground along with west winds at 15 mph, gusting to 25 had the Red Flag Warning in place until just after sunset today.  This is not for just the Cram Fire region, it is for almost all Central Oregon. Any fire that ignites today has the potential to grow rapidly, so be mindful of anything that may start a fire.

The Cram Fire in Jefferson and Wasco Counties continues to grow to near mega-fire status. A mega-fire is defined as a wildfire that has grown to over 100k acres. That is more than likely going to be obtained today or tonight, unfortunately.  The winds today will compromise the eastern and southeastern flank and test the defenses that have been put in place by the brave fire fighters.  The winds, arriving generally from the west will transport the smoke to the east and southeast. Prineville and most of Crook County will see air quality indexes in the moderate to slightly unhealthy range.

Acreage has been changed to over 94 thousand acres and will be updated soon, just wanted to give an idea of this massive wildfire footprint.

The weather over the weekend will be near normal as far as temperatures are concerned. I expect to see highs in the middle 80s both Saturday and Sunday. Winds will be breezy in the afternoon Saturday, sustained near 10 – 12 and gusting near 20 at times. Skies will be mostly sunny to partly cloudy.

Sunday, we start to see a bit more cloud cover return to the region. The chance for some light rain showers arrives on Monday. The temperatures Sunday will be a few degrees cooler due to the late day clouds that will filter some of the solar energy.

Monday looks to be partly to mostly cloudy with the chance for an afternoon shower. The rain will be light and very spotty, nothing widespread is expected. Highs will be in the upper 70s to low 80s.

We dry out Tuesday and begin to warm up a little.  Highs return to the low 90s Wednesday before some clouds and rain return to the region Thursday and possibly Friday.

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