The Portland office of the National Weather Service issued a Fire Weather Watch for much of the Willamette Valley and Portland area over concerns of a possible thunderstorm starting Tuesday afternoon.
According to the NWS message, issued Monday afternoon, the weather will be dry, and a slight chance of thunderstorms exists Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday evening.
“Lightning and critically dry fuels may result in numerous fire starts,” the federal agency said. “Thunderstorm outflow winds may result in erratic fire spread.”
The area of the message includes Banks, Gales Creek and other rural western Washington County communities east of the cast range, but higher elevation communities like Timber and Tophill, and the Tillamook Forest, are not in the weather zone covered by the message.
View a detailed map of the area online.
“Listen for later forecasts and possible Red Flag Warnings,” the agency added.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Gales Creek Journal and sister news publications the Banks Post and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
