Fire and smoke map for CONUS on August 1, 2022. Credit: NOAA

National Fire News

as of July 12 at 5:00 a.m. MDT (on a scale from 1 to 5)

Current hours for the National Fire Information Center are
(MST) 8:00 am – 4:30pm, Monday – Friday
208-387-5050

This report will be updated Monday through Friday.
Please check the IMSR for more information.

August 1, 2022

Fifty-five large fires and complexes have burned 1,580,475 acres in 13 states. Four new large fires were reported, two in Texas, one in Nebraska, and one in Oregon. More than 8,500 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to incidents across the country.

Extreme fire behavior was reported on the Moose Fire in Idaho and the Carter Canyon Fire in Nebraska. Residents near large fires in California, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Wyoming remain evacuated this morning.

Dry and windy conditions will persist in Washington, Oregon, and Montana. Isolated thunderstorms are forecast tomorrow in parts of the Northern California, Northwest, Great Basin, and Northern Rockies areas. For more information, visit the Predictive Services fuels and fire danger summary, fire weather and potential briefing, and the seven-day significant fire potential outlook.

Remember that unauthorized drones near wildfires are dangerous for our wildland firefighters in the air and on the ground. So far this year, eight drone incursions have been reported. All instances caused wildland fire managers to shut down air operations until they could confirm the drone was no longer in the area. Unauthorized drone flights pose serious risks to firefighter and public safety and the effectiveness of wildfire suppression operations. To inform drone pilots of flight restrictions, the Federal Aviation Administration has developed an easy-to-use smartphone app called B4UFLY. The app helps drone pilots determine whether there are any restrictions or requirements in effect at the location where they want to fly.

Lightning ignited more than 3,200 wildfires this year, but nearly 35,0000 were human-caused. Some people walk away without putting out their campfire, others light fireworks around day brush and grass. These behaviors are dangerous and unlawful. You can make a difference and reduce unwanted wildland fires by reporting careless and illegal behavior. If you see something suspicious, please call the nearest law enforcement office and help protect our wildlands. Please do your part to prevent wildfires and recreate responsibly.

Smoke forecast for August 1, 2022. Credit: NOAA

Weather

Well above normal temperatures are expected across much of the Northwest, northern Rockies, and portions of northern California and northern Great Basin, but a weakening upper-level ridge, cloud cover, and smoke will likely decrease temperatures slightly from recent days, except along and east of the Divide in Montana. Gusty west-southwest winds amid relative humidity of 8-25% will result in elevated to critical fire weather conditions along and east of the Divide in Montana, across northern Wyoming into the western Dakotas, and in central and eastern Washington. Overnight humidity recovery will improve across northern California, the Pacific Northwest, the northern Great Basin, and into the northern Rockies due to increased moisture.

Isolated to scattered mixed wet and dry thunderstorms are expected across much of northern California, Oregon, and into the northern Great Basin, central Washington, southwest Montana, and western Wyoming. Greater coverage of thunderstorms is likely in southern Oregon and far northern California, where chances of isolated wetting rain are higher. Scattered to widespread mostly wet thunderstorms are expected in the eastern Sierra, south of Lake Tahoe, across central Nevada into portions of eastern and northern Nevada, and in the greater Four Corners region, especially southern Colorado into northern New Mexico.

Well above normal temperatures are forecast for the Plains, with hot, dry, and unstable conditions in portions of west, central, and north Texas into southwest Oklahoma. Dry and windy conditions are expected on the leeward sides of the Hawai’ian Islands. Strong to severe thunderstorms are possible from the Missouri Valley through the Ohio Valley, with heavy rain and flooding likely again in portions of the southern and central Appalachians.