National Fire News

Weakened dome of high pressure near the Four Corners will sag a little farther south while a disturbance offshore northern California continues to drift northward. Drier air should significantly limit the coverage of mixed wet/dry thunderstorms for portions of California’s Central Coast and Central Valley. The primary focus for high-risk dry lightning will continue along/east of the Sierra Crest shifting eastward across central/eastern Nevada, northern Utah, and into central/southern Idaho, southwest Montana, western Wyoming and northwest Colorado. Potential for at least isolated dry lightning will also be present over California’s NW Mountains closer to the offshore disturbance. Across the West, high temperatures will continue to trend closer to more typical mid-July readings while record/near-record heat persists across the Great Plains and Southeast. Less intense heat combined with the slight uptick in moisture will broadly result in improved RH recovery tonight across much of the West and much less coverage of single digit RH during the day; however, RH minima below 20% will remain in the Great Basin, portions of the Columbia Basin and Snake River Plain as well as the High Plains in the afternoon. Locally breezy and very dry conditions east of the Cascades into the central Columbia Basin may result in elevated critical conditions at times. For the eastern US, record or near-record heat will continue to build for many areas especially the Southeast and east Gulf Coast region. RH will be low and generally less than 25% for the Southern Plains while RH minima below 35% are expected for much of the Southeast, southern Appalachians, and Mid-Atlantic. Severe thunderstorms are likely from the High Plains to the Upper/Middle Mississippi Valley extending into the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. Cool, moist, unsettled pattern will continue for western Alaska with widespread moderate to locally heavy rain possible. Areas of rain and mainly isolated wet thunderstorms return for the eastern and northern Interior through tonight. Hawai’i will continue to have breezy to strong trade winds along with a mostly dry pattern save for frequent but generally light showers for windward/mauka locations.