Red flag warning says WA’s Cascades ripe for wildfire — The Seattle Times

Elevated wildfire risk is in the forecast through Monday evening.

The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for conditions conducive to extreme fire behavior from 2 to 9 p.m. Sunday in Chelan and Douglas counties, as well as the Methow River Valley. The warning covers the east slopes of the Cascades into the Columbia River basin.

Central Washington starting Sunday afternoon will see high temperatures from about 95 to 101 degrees and relative humidity around 15% to 20%, said Steve Bodnar, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Spokane. Starting Sunday afternoon and into the evening hours, winds will pick up to 20 mph and gusts up to 30 mph.

“It’s really, really dry out there and having this heat wave that we’re in right now, conditions are just getting drier,” Bodnar said. “Our fuels are continuing to cure further and further.”

Central Washington has not had a wetting rain — a tenth of an inch of rainfall — in almost 50 days. And there’s no rain in the forecast.

A fire weather watch is also in place for portions of Central Washington on Monday, when winds will shift, coming out of the north and northwest as a cold front passes, according to the National Weather Service. The Okanogan Valley could see some of the strongest gusts, up to 55 mph.

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