084 FXUS 7KMFher Office Medford, Oregon 6 am PDT Wed Sep 02 1998...Crawford ***NEAR RED FLAG CONDITIONS WEST OF THE CASCADE CREST...WARM AND DRY CONDITIONS...MODERATE HAINES INDEX VALUES...PLUS AREAS OF LIGHT TO MODERATE NORTHEAST WINDS*** Discussion...High pressure will continue to hold strong today with the thermal trough over western Oregon. Conditions such as a subsidence inversion...hot temperatures...and moderate haines index values will be similar to Tuesday. Thursday, however, the ridge will move further east allowing the thermal trough to move east of the Cascades in the afternoon. This will bring a gradual increase of marine air into areas west of the Cascades...and mainly north of the Umpqua divide Thursday. Some moisture will begin to move northward into eastern Oregon Thursday providing some cloud buildups and only a very slight chance for thunderstorms over the mountains. ********* Key to Specific Site Numerical Forecasts *********** Station MAX/MIN Temp / MAX/MIN RH / Probability of Precip Haines Index Values 2-3 Very Low Wildfire Growth Potential 4 Low 5 Moderate 6 High **************************************************************** Area 1... Coast... Zones 615 618 Today Weather........Areas of morning low clouds and fog...otherwise sunny. Temperatures...Highs 65-70 coast and 90-100 inland areas. Humidities.....Lowest near 60% coast and 18-28% inland areas. Surface Wind...North wind 5 to 10 mph inland...northwest wind 10-20 mph with gusts to 30 mph at beaches. LAL............1 Haines (mid)...6 ------ North Bend 67/ 62/ 0 Tonight Weather........Areas of fog and low clouds redeveloping...otherwise clear. Temperatures...Lows near 50-55 coast and 55-65 inland areas. Humidities.....Recovery to near 90% coast and 55-70%. Surface Wind...Evening wind north 5-10 mph inland...10-20 mph beaches and becoming light by midnight. LAL............1 ------ North Bend 51/ 90/ 0 Thursday Weather........Areas of morning low clouds and fog...otherwise sunny. Temperatures...Highs mid 60s beaches and 88-98 inland. Humidities.....Lowest near 55-65% coast and 18-28% inland. Surface Wind...Afternoon wind north 5-10 mph...except 10-20 mph with gusts to 30 mph. LAL............1 Haines (mid)...6 ------ North Bend 66/ 65/ 0 **************************************************************** Area 2... Umpqua Basin... Zones 616 617 Today Weather........Sunny and very hot. Temperatures...Highs 92-102 valleys and 85-95 ridges. Humidities.....Lowest 10-20% valleys and 18-30% ridges. Surface Wind...Wind north 5 to 10 mph. LAL............1 Haines (mid)...6 Haines (high)..6 ------ Signal Tree 93/ 32/ 0 Grandad 96/ 14/ 0 Tonight Weather........Clear. Temperatures...Lows upper 50s to lower 60s valleys and 60-74 ridges. Humidities.....Recovery to 70-85% valleys and 50-70% ridges. Surface Wind...Light wind...except northeast wind 4-8 mph ridges. LAL............1 ------ Signal Tree 67/ 70/ 0 Grandad 61/ 75/ 0 Thursday Weather........Sunny, but not as hot. Temperatures...Highs 88-98 valleys and 85-93 ridges. Humidities.....Lowest 18-28 valleys...22-32% ridges. Surface Wind...Wind north 5-10 mph. LAL............1 Haines (mid)...6 Haines (high)..4 ------ Signal Tree 88/ 32/ 0 Grandad 92/ 18/ 0 **************************************************************** Area 3... Southwest Interior... Zones 619 620 621 622 623 Today Weather........Sunny and very hot. Temperatures...Highs 100-109 valleys and 90-100 ridges. Humidities.....Lowest 10-20% valleys and 15-25% ridges. Surface Wind...Wind northwest 5 to 10 mph. LAL............1 Haines (mid)...6 Haines (high)..4 ------ Medford 106/ 13/ 0 Onion Mtn 92/ 19/ 0 Squaw Pk 92/ 14/ 0 Tonight Weather........Clear. Temperatures...Lows 48-60 valleys and 65-74 ridges. Humidities.....Recovery to 70-85% valleys and 45-65% ridges. Surface Wind...Light wind...except northeast 5-10 mph ridges. LAL............1 ------ Medford 59/ 80/ 0 Onion Mtn 68/ 50/ 0 Squaw Pk 71/ 45/ 0 Thursday Weather........Sunny and hot. A few cloud buildups over crest of cascades after noon. Temperatures...Highs 96-106 valleys and 86-94 ridges. Humidities.....Lowest 15-24% valleys and 18-30% ridges. Surface Wind...Light wind early, except northeast 5-10 mph ridges. Afternoon wind northwest 7-17 mph. LAL............1 Haines (mid)...6 Haines (high)..4 ------ Medford 103/ 16/ 0 Onion Mtn 88/ 23/ 0 Squaw Pk 89/ 21/ 0 **************************************************************** Area 4... Eastside... Zones 624 625 Today Weather........Sunny and hot. Temperatures...Highs 95-100 valleys and 88-96 ridges. Humidities.....Lowest 5-15%. Surface Wind...Afternoon north wind to 10 mph. LAL............1 Haines (high)..4 ------ Calmus 88/ 7/ 0 Strawberry 94/ 9/ 0 Gerber 97/ 8/ 0 Tonight Weather........Clear. Temperatures...Lows 45-55 valleys and 57-67 ridges. Humidities.....Recovery to 60-75% valleys and 40-60% ridges. Surface Wind...Evening north wind 10 mph. LAL............1 ------ Calmus 67/ 40/ 0 Strawberry 55/ 60/ 0 Gerber 52/ 65/ 0 Thursday Weather........Sunny and continued hot. A few cloud buildups after noon with a slight chance of thunderstorms over the mountains. Temperatures...Highs 95-100 valleys and 88-96 ridges. Humidities.....Lowest 5-15%. Surface Wind...Afternoon wind north 5-10 mph. LAL............2 Haines (high)..4 ------ Calmus 88/ 7/ 0 Strawberry 94/ 9/ 0 Gerber 97/ 9/ 0 Outlook for Friday through Sunday Ridge will remian in the central states with low pressure in the Gulf of Alaska. This will keep a weak southwest flow over the district. Temperatures will be near to slightly above normal. The only precipitation will come from any thunderstorms that may develop as some moisture moves northward into eastern Oregon. Zones 615-623... Morning clouds and patchy fog coast...otherwise sunny. Lows in the upper 40s to 50s. Highs coast 65 to 70...Inland upper 80s to upper 90s. Zones 624-625... Mostly sunny and warm. Slight chance of afternoon thunderstorms. Lows 45 to 55. Highs from the low 80s to low 90s. $$