The impacts of wildfires in the Pacific Northwest are worsening in the western United States.
In this series, our Environment Northwest team looks at recent fire history in western and eastern Washington, Idaho and Oregon — and what the worsening impacts mean for the future of our region. Wildfire season in the Northwest is expected to be active this year. The El Niño that brought warmer temperatures and drier conditions to the region this past winter will continue through most of the summer. There are signs of La Niña conditions forming, but the cool, wet pattern likely won’t return until later this fall.
An abnormally warm dry winter in Washington and north Idaho led to a below-average snowpack in the Olympic Mountains, North Cascades, and the Northern Rockies.