Western Oregon is in store for hot weather, smoke and elevated fire danger this week.
The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for the southern Willamette Valley on Monday from 1 p.m. until 8 p.m. The warning area includes Eugene, Albany, Springfield and Cottage Grove.
Colby Neuman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Portland, said the low humidity, high temperatures and wind coming from the north combine to make some possibly dangerous conditions.
“Today's the kind of day where fire can spread rapidly, so if you live next to the wildland interface or even next to a grassy field, it's good to be prepared in case something happens," he said Monday.
The dangerous fire weather will be followed by several days of high temperatures in the mid-to-upper 90s for most of the Willamette Valley. A Heat Advisory is in effect for a broad section of western Oregon, but primarily including the Willamette Valley, Douglas County, and portions of the Coast Range. High temperatures are predicted to remain in the 90s for the entire work week in Eugene.
Forecasters also say the shift in wind will bring the season’s first significant blast of wildfire smoke for western Oregon.
"Smoke and haze from wildfires burning east of the Cascade crest (will move) into areas west of the Cascade crest," the National Weather Service's Portland office wrote on social media on Sunday.
The agency the smoke should arrive by Monday afternoon and linger in the area through at least Wednesday.
Douglas County
A separate Red Flag Warning is in effect for most of Douglas County and a small portion of southeast Lane County on Wednesday from 2 p.m. until 9 p.m.
The increasingly hazardous conditions have prompted the Douglas Fire Protection Association to increase the fire danger level and public use restriction level to “extreme” for all lands within the district. That means use of power saws, cutting, grinding or welding of metal, cutting or mowing dried grass, and operation of power driven machinery is prohibited.
Open fires are prohibited.
The DFPA urged county residents to never park or drive over dry grass, maintain vehicles and trailers, dispose of smoking materials safely, and avoid the use of fireworks.
EWEB puts some of its power lines in wildfire safety settings
The Eugene Water & Electric Board said it has switched to wildfire safety settings for some of its service areas.
Those areas include the Laurel Hill Valley, South Hills and Southwest Hills.
When in wildfire safety settings, power lines will shut off if something like a branch taps the line. E-WEB crews will check individual lines before restoring power where a trip has occurred.
Overnight outages may last longer as crews won’t be able to check lines without daylight.
EWEB also expects higher demands on energy going toward air conditioning with high temperatures forecasted this week.
It added that energy demand could reach its highest levels so far for the summer.
KLCC's Rachael McDonald and Hannah Bush contributed to this story.
