Warming climate 'loads the dice' for wildfire in west Cascades

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

INDEX — When the National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for the North Cascades on Sept. 9, it was an “uh-oh” moment for Crystal Raymond, a climate adaptation specialist at the University of Washington.

High winds were bringing hot air from the east instead of moist air from the west. Alarm bells sounded for Raymond and other fire experts.

“It was the exact recipe for a fire: a long, dry summer followed by an east-wind event,” she said. “Given the conditions, we’re very lucky that the temperature dropped and a little bit of rain came in. If we had gotten this red flag warning five to eight days earlier …” she added, trailing off.

Dry conditions are especially worrisome at night. The Bolt Creek wildfire was first spotted at 5:15 a.m. Sept. 10. As the day warmed, the wildfire doubled in size, then doubled again. Ash sprinkled from the sky across Puget Sound, blanketing car windshields. Longtime Washingtonians likened it to the falling ash in the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/scientists-warming-climate-loads-the-dice-for-wildfire-in-west-cascades/

[spike jones]

1. In the North Cascades, there are entire mountainsides of dead and dying trees. n/t