WACD Reading List

Ian Rickert, acting fire management specialist with the Bureau of Land Management Oregon-Washington State office and the United States Department of Agriculture/Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region office said in a late August report that there are still areas of Washington and Oregon that still have a considerable distance from being in the clear as high temperatures and low humidity continues to affect those regions.

Public lands east of the Cascades managed by the Washington state Department of Natural Resources will be closed indefinitely because of drought and the worsening wildfire season. Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz will announce the public land closure during her visit Tuesday morning to the 12,000-acre Red Apple Fire near Wenatchee. “This is never something we want to do, but we need to keep people safe,” said Ryan Rodruck, communications manager for Eastern Washington DNR.

Spokane keeps setting ominous weather records this year. The region in 2021 had its driest, and second hottest, Feb. 1 through July 10 stretch since record-keeping began in 1881, according to the National Weather Service. And the unwelcome weather isn’t letting up soon, with 100-degree days and no rain forecast this week. Wilson said 2021 has been one of the hottest, driest years in the region’s history. The stretch from Feb. 1 through July 10 has been the second hottest Spokane has ever seen, behind only 2015 – which was the worst wildfire year in state history. “Acres burned are mostly highly correlated to the summertime temperatures, so it’s not a good thing that we see temperatures of this magnitude,” Wilson said.

It's been more than three weeks since Seattle had measurable rainfall, and the impacts are showing.

The Inland Northwest got a double whammy of grim news recently as forecasters predicted significant wildfire risk through this summer and the Washington Department of Ecology issued its first-ever drought advisory for much of the state. The period from February through May 24 saw the least amount of rain in Spokane since record keeping began in 1881, says Jeff Marti, water resources planner at Ecology. March and April specifically were the fourth-driest those months have been since 1895. "That is alarming," says Angie Lane, assistant wildfire division manager for the state Department of Natural Resources. "That area in Central and Eastern Washington is going to be above normal temperatures, below normal precipitation, and that sets us up for potential for significant fires all through the summer."