Biscuit Fire expected to be contained Monday

A fire weather watch has just been issued for N. Kali late tonight and thru Wednesday morning.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA
1020 AM PDT MON AUG 26 2002

A FIRE WEATHER WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR LATE TONIGHT THRU WEDNESDAY MORNING FOR THE TAHOE AND ELDORADO NATIONAL FORESTS...AS WELL AS THE SONOMA-NAPA-LAKE UNIT...

THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS FOR POOR NIGHTTIME RH RECOVERY AND BREEZY NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS...

THIS INCLUDES FIRE WEATHER ZONES...
536...538...558...559...561...562.

SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD ACROSS NORTHEAST NEVADA TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...WHILE LOW PRESSURE DEEPENS ALONG THE COAST. THIS WILL CREATE A STRONG NORTH TO NORTHEAST WIND GRADIENT...WHICH TYPICALLY PRODUCES POOR NIGHTTIME HUMIDITY RECOVERIES. ALONG THE COAST THIS OFFSHORE FLOW WILL ALSO PREVENT ANY MARINE INFLUENCE,
ESPECIALLY FOR AREAS NORTH OF THE GOLDEN GATE.

THE WINDS WILL INCREASE AFTER SUNSET TONIGHT AND GET STRONGER BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND DAYBREAK. WINDS MAY DIMINISH A LITTLE DURING THE DAY TUESDAY...BUT HUMIDITY LEVELS WILL REMAIN VERY LOW DURING THE DAY. NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS WILL INCREASE AGAIN TUESDAY NIGHT...PRODUCING ANOTHER NIGHT OF POOR RH RECOVERIES.

PLEASE ADVISE THE APPROPRIATE OFFICIALS AND FIRE CREWS IN THE FIELD OF THIS FIRE WEATHER WATCH.

Often when we have these warnings, they have an impact in S. Oregon and in particuliar SW Oregon.

I have been saying that since I learned that the lightening struck in the heart of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness.

Due to federal laws that were made even worse during the Clintoon years. Lightening fires are considered good fires of nature, and the floristry service has been forbidden to go into a wilderness area to fight a good fire of nature.

That leaves only one way to put out a massive fire like this, you stand outside of the wilderness area and let it burn until the massive fall/winter rains come. I have seen big burning stumps or fallen trees burn for a couple of weeks in heavy rain as the fire is deep into the dead tree.

THE WINDS WILL INCREASE AFTER SUNSET TONIGHT AND GET STRONGER BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND DAYBREAK. WINDS MAY DIMINISH A LITTLE DURING THE DAY TUESDAY...BUT HUMIDITY LEVELS WILL REMAIN VERY LOW DURING THE DAY. NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS WILL INCREASE AGAIN TUESDAY NIGHT...PRODUCING ANOTHER NIGHT OF POOR RH RECOVERIES.

PLEASE ADVISE THE APPROPRIATE OFFICIALS AND FIRE CREWS IN THE FIELD OF THIS FIRE WEATHER WATCH.

As the WIND carries the fire over the firebreaks the burnt biscut continues to enlarge abd burn precious forestland.

I sure hope the fire captains are keeping a close watch because I don't want to read what I wrote!

As you know that as we approach the fall and cooler weather, the famous Brookings/Cheto/Curry County Banana Belt effect is caused by this exact situation. That high gets started NEN of where you live and sometimes just locks down.

That causes the winds in the Northern Kali area that are in the warning I posted.

Sometimes the wind will rush down hill in the Chetco River, Brookings to Gold Beach area. The air heats up as it rushed down hill and out to sea. Brooking can end up with a Banana Belt Day with temps in the 70's to close to 100. That happened last year the week before 9/11. We were staying in Gold Beach and the wind was so strong from the East if you tried to throw a fishing fly up stream into the wind, it landed about 30 to 50 feet down stream to the west of you. If you didn't duck you might catch yourself.

My wife and I had driven about halfway to Agness to fish. There had been a fairly strong wind the day before, but on this second day your might end up hooking yourself. So we drove back to Jot's and got out of our fishing gear and left the rods in the condo. Then we drove to Brookings.

About halfway down at 10 to 11 am I had to turn on the AC in the Bronco, that usually doesn't happen there. It was ninety when we pulled into Brookings. We decide to stay out of the un ac shops and did the Freddie Meyers thing. We came out about noon and felt like we were in the Kali central valley instead of Brookings. We went to the pier to eat and had to sit inside due to the heavy and hot east wind. By 1 pm, it was over 100 at most places in Brookings/Harbor.

The point of this long story is what you inferred. This could happen on the Biscuit Fire and blow embers and fire down west to farms, ranches, little towns and Brookings/Gold Beach. Lets hope not!

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