Red flag warning in effect this afternoon

August 12, 2017

The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning in effect for North Idaho, as shown in the map above, from 2 to 11 p.m. today as isolated thunderstorms are expected to move across a very dry region at high risk for wildfire ignition and spread. Southwest winds of five to ten miles per hour are expected, with outflow winds from thunderstorm cells gusting from 20 to 30 miles per hour. These storms are moving in from central Washington, and are expected to start out dry and become wetter later in the afternoon. A red flag warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now or will be shortly. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity...and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior. In addition, an air quality alert remains in effect until noon today due to smoke from wildfires in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. This afternoon's winds are expected to help clear some of the smoke from the region, hopefully without new fires to produce more.