Английская Википедия:2017 Washington wildfires

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Шаблон:Use mdy dates Шаблон:Infobox wildfire The 2017 Washington wildfires were a series of wildfires that burned over the course of 2017, a year that set weather records for heat and aridity in both Western Washington and Eastern Washington.

Timeline of events

Fire season officially began on April 15.[1] Training of state fire crews was conducted in May, as well as training of Washington National Guard in helitack insertion for fire crews.[2]

On the morning of August 1, smoke from BC fires pushed into the Seattle area, rapidly making Mount Rainier invisible on a cloudless day.[3] In early August, heavy smoke from British Columbia over Seattle earned the social media title "Шаблон:Vanchor".[4] Mid-month, several large fires in the state's Cascades Range were ignited by lightning.[5]

On August 8, the city of Seattle recorded 52 straight days without rain, a new record.[6] The first measurable rainfall at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) was 0.02 inches in mid-August, setting a record 55 day dry streak.[7]

On September 2, the Governor of Washington, Jay Inslee, declared a state of emergency across all Washington counties due to wildfires.[8][9]

Файл:Peak AQI Washington and Oregon 20170906.jpg
Peak Air Quality Index values for Oregon and Washington on September 6, 2017. Air quality is hazardous in parts of Washington and Oregon, "very unhealthy" in Spokane, and at least "unhealthy" across most of the area.

On September 5, ash from the Central Washington fires fell "like snow" on Seattle and as far west as Grays Harbor County which borders the Pacific Ocean.[10][11][12] University of Washington meteorology professor Cliff Mass said the situation in Seattle with "a smoke cloud so dense one would think it is low stratus deck" was unprecedented in his 30 years of experience.[13] The Air Quality Index reached "hazardous" in Spokane, the worst of six levels; it had reached hazardous the day before in Newport, Washington, the worst in the country.[14]

On September 5, Cle Elum-Roslyn School District announced the start of the school year would be postponed, and on the 6th, all classes and events in Ellensburg School District were canceled until September 11, due to unhealthy indoor air quality.[15][16]

The first significant rain wasn't until after mid September.[17] By the end of the summer, the official weather station at Sea-Tac, representing Western Washington's conditions, had recorded the hottest, driest summer since recordkeeping began with just over Шаблон:Convert of rain.[18] Eastern Washington also had a very dry year with Spokane setting a new record of 80 days without measurable rain.[19] A climate scientist at University of Idaho said that the extremes caused greater fire activity and were due to climate change, but not necessarily linked to human causes.[20]

List of fires

Файл:NOAA wildfire warning Washington 2017 Labor Day.png
Wildfire warning published online by National Weather Service for Washington State over Labor Day weekend 2017

Resources

Шаблон:Expand section

Файл:147th Fighter Wing RC-26B Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance aircraft.jpg
An RC-26 like this one was deployed to Spokane. Aircraft used for 2005 New Orleans floods pictured.

An infrared thermography-capable RC-26 surveillance aircraft and support crew from Washington Air National Guard were deployed to Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane on August 12 in support of firefighting.[31][32]

On August 29, the Washington Military Department's Emergency Operation Center at Camp Murray was activated in response to the Jolly Mountain Fire.[33]

On September 5, the U.S. Army said 200 Washington-based soldiers were to be trained and sent to the Umpqua North Complex fires in Oregon's Umpqua National Forest.[34][35]

Further reading

References

Шаблон:Reflist

External links

Шаблон:Commons category

Шаблон:2017 American wildfires Шаблон:Washington wildfires