Much of Oregon Under Fire Watches - Some Heat Warnings, Thunderstorms

Published 7/20/24 at 5:55 a.m.
By Andre' GW Hagestedt, Oregon Coast Beach Connection

(Portland, Oregon) – It's an action-packed weekend of weather all throughout Oregon and southern Washington, as almost all the middle part of the state is under a fire weather watch. Thunderstorms are coming to the coastline and other areas. (Lightning in Portland / Oregon Coast Beach Connection)

The National Weather Service (NWS) has its hands full. There are fire watches through Sunday or longer in effect for just about everything surrounding the Cascades: from the northern Willamette Valley and Portland down into Ashland, and from the edges of the Oregon Coast Range over to the Columbia Gorge and the Santiam Pass.

A major heatwave hits right down the middle of that area, creating a heat advisory for Vancouver, Washington, the Portland area, Salem, Eugene, into Redmond, Klamath County and northern California. Rural areas (including The Dalles, Madras, the Cascades) will be hitting over 100 on Saturday, while Portland gets into the mid 90s.

See Washington Coast Weather - Oregon Coast Weather

The Oregon coast gets into the 70s today (Saturday), then most of it drops into the upper 60s – still warmer than it often is. The very southern edges of the Oregon coast around Brookings stay in the 70s this weekend, then rise into the 80s by mid week.

Fire Weather Watches

Hagg Lake / Oregon Coast Beach Connection

Fire watches are largely in effect until Saturday night, with some until Sunday evening. These cover much of the state and are especially important in the many forest areas of the region.

“A Fire Weather Watch means that critical fire weather conditions are forecast to occur,” the NWS said.

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Full red flag warnings are possible, so continue to watch weather updates in those at risk areas.

Much of the issue involves incoming thunderstorms expected in many areas.

“Frequent lightning and critically dry fuels may result in numerous fire starts,” the NWS said. “Thunderstorm outflow winds may result in erratic fire spread.”

Parts of southern Oregon are currently dealing with air quality alerts because of forest fires – like Klamath Falls or Altamont.

For a large area of eastern Oregon, including Pendleton and the Blue Mountains, there's an excessive heat warning through Monday.

“Dangerously hot conditions with afternoon temperatures of 100-110 degrees expected over the weekend,” the NWS said. “This will pose a major risk of heat-related illness.”

Even the Oregon coast is likely to get some thunderstorm action late Saturday or early Sunday, proving a dramatic weekend for just about everyone in the Pacific Northwest.

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Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

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