Heat and Fire Weather Concerns in the West

Heat will build over the Intermountain West and the Southwest the next couple of days. Lightning from dry thunderstorms can create new fire starts and combined with gusty winds may cause a fire to rapidly grow in Oregon and northern California. Elevated fire weather conditions are also expected in the Great Basin. Flash flooding will be possible in Arizona and west Texas, especially in burn scars. Read More >

Summer 2022 temperatures were generally around or slightly above average across the region. Many areas saw below average rainfall, especially from Pine County to Ashland County along the South Shore. Some of those areas saw around 6-8” below average rainfall. The tip of the Arrowhead in Cook County also saw below average rainfall. Areas north of US highway 2 in northeast Minnesota, however, generally saw slightly above average rainfall. There were some periods of active severe weather especially in June, but there was generally quieter weather during July and August. Some slow-moving thunderstorms in the middle of August led to some flash flood warnings. The rainfall from these storms led to improvement of the dry weather for some, but largely missed the parts of northwest Wisconsin that were experiencing drought conditions. With generally dry weather in the forecast for the start of September, drought conditions will likely persist for areas currently experiencing it.