Fires, Storms and Blazing Heat Forecast for Western US

Fires, storms and the potential for near-record high temperatures across the western US are in the offing for the coming week.

The Gifford Fire, about 125 miles (201 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles, had burned 114,621 acres and was 21% contained as of Sunday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, commonly known as Cal Fire. So far, 809 people have been evacuated and the Los Padres National Forest was closed because of the flames.

There are 3,935 fire crews and support staff on the scene, and at least seven have been injured, according to a joint statement by Cal Fire, the US Forest Service and several local agencies.

The Gifford blaze is the largest of 15 fires across the state, which also includes the Canyon Fire that had burned 5,370 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, according to Cal Fire. A new fire broke out near Fresno on Sunday but had only consumed about 10 acres.

Large wildfires in Colorado have also caused air quality to drop there, the US National Weather Service said. Alerts are out across western portions of the state, including Vail, the agency said.

Meanwhile, smoke from forest fires in Canada has once again crossed into the US, causing air quality alerts to be posted in Minnesota and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the National Weather Service said. Across the border, air quality warnings are also in place for parts of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Environment and Climate Change Canada said.

Across Canada, 714 active fires are burning with 166 raging out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. So far this year, 4,277 blazes have charred 7.3 million acres. In the US, there have been 42,854 fires reported on 3.5 million acres, the US National Interagency Fire Center said. While the number of US fires exceeds last year’s 32,727 by this date, the acreage burned is less than the more than 5 million acres consumed a year ago.

US heat advisories and extreme heat warnings are posted across parts of the west, including California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Phoenix is forecast to reach 108F (42C) Sunday, a dip from the record temperatures that gripped the fifth most-populous US city last week.

Phoenix set a new August high temperature of 118F on Thursday.

In New York City and elsewhere in the Northeast, temperatures are set to rise. As many as 12 records may be tied or broken across the region in the coming week, the US Weather Prediction Center said.

Flood watches have been posted across the Midwest, including Milwaukee, the weather service said. The Milwaukee River in Estabrook Park has risen more than 8 feet in the last day cresting at a new record of 11.19 feet, the weather service said.

The Wisconsin State Fair canceled its final day Sunday after flooding ripped through the area late Saturday.

The US National Hurricane Center is watching two potential storms both in the central Atlantic far from land.

The first is a disorganized patch of thunderstorms that’s moving north into the Atlantic with a 20% chance of becoming a storm in the next week. The second is a broad area of low pressure that is moving off Africa with a 70% chance of becoming a tropical storm or hurricane in the coming week.

The remnants of Tropical Storm Dexter, which has crossed the Atlantic Ocean toward Europe, will set the stage for warmer temperatures to filter in across the UK and Ireland, the UK Met Office said. Warmer temperatures are forecast to sweep into the UK during the coming week. The high in London is forecast to reach 33C (91F) by Tuesday, the agency said.

Photo: The Canyon Fire burns in Hasley Canyon, California, on Friday, Aug. 8. (Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg)