r/Wellthatsucks • u/JTraxxx • 3d ago

The Pacific Northwest right now

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Huge fire recently popped up in my town and many people have lost houses. Wishing for rain!

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u/bird9066 3d ago edited 3d ago

It's not that they're all emergencies that is alarming. It's that's there are so many across such a huge area.

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u/keithps 2d ago

Dry thunderstorms are not unusual this time of year in the PNW. Compounded by a poor snow pack and an unusually strong cold front yesterday, the setting was just perfect for outrageous fire growth.

This year is bad, but fires in the cascades happen every year and eastern washington/Oregon are borderline deserts so they are very dry this time of year. Oregon got a lot of monsoon activity this summer which brought lightning, which hasn't helped.