Central and Eastern Washington face above-normal potential for a significant, large wildfire this summer. That's according to a new outlook from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), citing concerns following a warmer than normal May and areas of lower precipitation.
The agency said the greatest potential for such a fire in July would be in Southern and Southeastern Washington. It will spread to areas east of the Cascade mountains in August and September.
Other areas of Washington will have normal potential for significant wildfires.
This comes after a May in which temperatures were above average for the Northwest. NIFC said the highest abnormalities were seven to 10 degrees above average across Central Washington, with precipitation well below average. Eastern Washington, however, had at or above normal precipitation in May.
"Outlooks for the region for June suggest warmer and drier than average conditions continuing throughout the Pacific Northwest. The seasonal outlook for July through September show even higher probability of above average temperatures and continues to carry below average precipitation," the outlook read.
Snowpack at higher elevations across Washington remains above normal, according to NIFC.
