Updated: High fire danger for Olympics facing Hood Canal

Published 12:01 am Thursday, September 13, 2012

The National Weather Service has updated this “red flag warning” for high fire conditions in the Olympic Mountains on the east side of the Olympic Peninsula (RH = relative humidity):

CENTRAL AND SOUTH PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS-

BLACK HILLS AND SOUTHWEST INTERIOR LOWLANDS-

NORTHEAST PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS GENERALLY BELOW 1500 FEET-

SOUTHEAST PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS GENERALLY BELOW 1500 FEET-

EAST PORTION OF THE OLYMPIC MOUNTAINS–

823 AM PDT THU SEP 13 2012

…RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM PDT THIS EVENING

FOR THE EASTERN OLYMPICS…AND MUCH OF THE INTERIOR LOWLANDS

SOUTH OF EVERETT FOR LOW RH…EAST WINDS AND HIGH HAINES

CONDITIONS…

A RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM PDT THIS EVENING.

* AFFECTED AREA…THE EASTERN OLYMPICS…AND THE INTERIOR

LOWLANDS SOUTH OF EVERETT.

* WINDS…NORTH TO NORTHEAST 5 TO 10 MPH…EXCEPT LOCALLY EAST 8

TO 14 MPH WITH GUSTS NEAR 20 OVER THE IMMEDIATELY NEXT TO THE

CASCADES AND THE RIDGES AROUND THE EASTERN OLYMPICS THIS

MORNING. WIND EASING THIS AFTERNOON.

* TIMING…THIS MORNING FOR WINDS AND LOW RH AND THROUGH THIS

EVENING FOR LOW RH AND HIGH HAINES.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY…AS LOW AS 15 TO 25 PERCENT.

* IMPACTS…THE WIND AND LOW RH COMBINATION CAN CAUSE RAPID FIRE

SPREAD…WHILE THE LOW RH AND HIGH HAINES COMBINATION CAN CAUSE

LARGE FIRE GROWTH DUE TO PLUME DOMINATED PROCESSES.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS

ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW…OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF

STRONG WINDS…LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY…AND WARM TEMPERATURES WILL

CREATE EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL.

Here’s the blog entry by Scott Sistek, a Port Angeles native who watches weather conditions for the PDN’s news partner, KOMO News, in Seattle: http://bit.ly/SFIPmn