Fire weather watch in effect Saturday
Smoke billows above a fire north of Quincy last year. The National Weather Service has warned that the risk of fire is high this weekend in eastern Washington, including the Columbia Basin.
MOSES LAKE — The National Weather Service has issued a Fire Weather Watch for much of eastern Washington, including Grant and Adams counties, for Saturday afternoon and evening.
Two types of critical fire weather are forecast, said Miranda Cote, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Spokane. For the Columbia Basin the critical factor will be high winds, with thunderstorms a possibility in the mountains.
Winds in the Basin are forecast to be 15 to 25 miles per hour Saturday afternoon, with the possibility of gusts from 25 to 40 miles per hour, Cote said.
A Fire Weather Watch means that critical fire weather conditions are forecast to occur, according to the NWS website.
The Fire Weather Watch also covers Douglas, Lincoln, Spokane and Whitman counties, as well as parts of Stevens, Okanogan, Ferry and Pend Oreille counties.
Low humidity is forecast along with the high winds, and people should take precautions when they’re outside, even if their activities don’t involve an actual fire. Cote cited a chain dragging along the road and causing sparks, or a parking a car in a dry field.
“Even yardwork can do it, if you’re mowing and hit something, cause a spark,” Cote said. “If something gets going, the wind could make it spread quickly.”