...DRY COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE SATURDAY... Elevated fire weather conditions as a dry cold front moves through the region. Winds begin to rise Saturday afternoon, although mostly remain 15 to 20 mph with 25 to 30 mph gusts. The frontal passage itself will occur overnight, bringing 30 to 40 mph gusts through Eastern Oregon. At the same time, minimum RHs across the area are well below 20%, down to 10% in the high desert. While the winds here increase overnight, RHs rise out of the 10-20% range with cooling temps. Thus, while the watch is limited to Saturday afternoon and evening, gusty winds will continue overnight including areas currently outside the fire weather watch. The National Weather Service in Boise has issued a Fire Weather Watch for winds and low relative humidities, which is in effect from Saturday afternoon through Saturday evening.
* AFFECTED AREA...In Idaho, Fire Weather Zone 423 Owyhee Mountains. In Oregon, Fire Weather Zones 670 Burns BLM, 671 Steens Mountain and 672 Southern Grasslands.
* TIMING...From Saturday afternoon through Saturday evening.
* WINDS...West 15 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph.
* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...6 to 14 percent.
* TEMPERATURES...90 to 100 degrees.
* IMPACTS...Any fire that develops will catch and spread quickly. Outdoor burning is not recommended.
* AFFECTED AREAS: OWYHEE MOUNTAINS ... BURNS BLM ... STEENS MOUNTAIN ... SOUTHERN GRASSLANDS
