Fire weather watch issued for Thursday and Friday

August 15, 2023

The National Weather Service, Spokane, has issued a fire weather watch for North Idaho and eastern Washington, in effect from Thursday afternoon to Friday evening due to gusty winds and dry conditions. The ridge responsible for the current heat wave will begin to break down Thursday and weaken considerably Friday with the passage of a dry cold front.

It will remain very hot and dry on Thursday with a noticeable increase in west to southwest winds of 10 to 20 miles per hour gusting to 35 miles per hour Thursday afternoon and into the evening.

Temperatures will cool roughly 10 degrees on Friday with widespread breezy to gusty conditions. Winds will remain from the west and southwest shifting to the northwest in north-central Washington Friday evening. Despite cooler temperatures, the air mass on Friday will remain very dry with humidity levels of 10- to 25-percent.

In these conditions, any new or existing fires will have the potential to spread rapidly.