Raging Wildfires in Washington

By now, I am sure many of you have heard about the wildfires in the Pacific Northwest. Namely, Washington State. Well, I figured I would right up an article about why they are so large and spreading so quickly.

First, the pattern has been very stagnant across the United States recently. A ridge (high pressure) has been dominating the weather across the West, while the East has seen the resulting trough (low pressure). And, as we all know, a ridge and high pressure means nice, dry weather. Thus, the areas seeing these large wildfires have been continually dry with little to no precipitation to help alleviate the fires. That is the first thing we need.

Secondly, the dew points (measure of moisture content in the air) have been brutally low. They are running in the 20's and 30's in the areas seeing wildfires. Here's a map of the current dew points across the United States...

As you can see, there is just little to no moisture in the Pacific Northwest. Once your dew points drop below 50, especially 40, it is considered very to extremely dry. Therefore, Washington is experiencing very, very dry conditions with dew points in the 20's and 30's. That fuels wildfires, and can help maintain them.

Third, the winds have been strong on occasion in Washington. As a result, the wildfires are spreading easier and more quickly. This makes it very difficult for firefighters to keep up with the flames. Therefore, the fires can spread fast and cover much more surface area when the winds pick up.

Due to the wildfires and the smoke they are outputting, there have been air quality alerts and air quality problems in the areas near the fires. It is becoming dangerous for people who have breathing problems, the elderly, and young children with all of the smoke in the air in these regions. And, with the dry weather and bouts of windy weather, the fires are expected to continue burning. That will just continue making the air quality worse and worse for Washington and surrounding regions.