Wildfires In Wenatchee, NCW Not Expected To Pick Up In Near Term

The weather in Wenatchee and the rest of the region is warning up as the weekend approaches. 

Temperatures are projected to reach the upper 80’s by Sunday, and 90 by next Wednesday. 

The chance for wildfires, however, will not be rising with the temperatures. 

Meteorologist Jeremy Wolf with the National Weather Service says current conditions are not favorable for fires, and won't be for awhile. 

"We don't see any strong winds or low humidity or any critical fire weather patterns in the near horizon," said Wolf. 

There've been several brush fires in the region during the past couple of weeks, but they've all been contained fairly quickly. 

The biggest generator of smoke in Wenatchee and the region has been recent fires in British Columbia and to a lesser extent, Alberta, Canada. 

Wolf says even human caused fires are not likely to consume  a large stretch of land. 

"Human caused fires are always possible in dry grass, Wolf said. "But those don't typically become big or large without a significant weather event. And at this point we don't see any critical fire weather patterns for the next week." 

Wildfires this month near Ephrata, Soap Lake, Manson and Pateros raised initial concerns, but were extinguished fairly quickly. 

Still, the long-term outlook is for fire activity to pick up. 

Currently, the National Interagency Fire Center predicts there'll be above average wildland fire activity in July, August and September for the eastern slopes of the Cascades extending into all of eastern Washington. 

The Interagency does an outlook for the summer fire potential each year and updates the outlook on the first day of each month.