Fires, storms and blazing beat forecast for western US

Straits Times

4 days ago

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The Gifford Fire, about 201km north-west of Los Angeles, had burned 114,621 acres (46,385ha) and was 21 per cent contained as of Aug 10.
LOS ANGELES – Fires, storms and the potential for near-record high temperatures across the western US are in the offing for this week.
The Gifford Fire, about 201km north-west of Los Angeles, had burned 114,621 acres (46,385ha) and was 21 per cent contained as of Aug 10, 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 Aug 10 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.
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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 in 2025, 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 Centre said.
While the number of US fires exceeds 2024'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 42 deg C on Aug 10, a dip from the record temperatures that gripped the fifth most-populous US city last week.
Phoenix set a new August high temperature of 47.9 deg C on Aug 7.
In New York City and elsewhere in the north-east, 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 Centre 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 (2.4m) in the last day, cresting at a new record of 11.19 feet, the weather service said.
The Wisconsin State Fair cancelled its final day on Aug 10 after flooding ripped through the area late on Aug 9.
The US National Hurricane Centre is watching two potential storms both in the central Atlantic far from land.
The first is a disorganised patch of thunderstorms that's moving north into the Atlantic with a 20 per cent chance of becoming a storm this week.
The second is a broad area of low pressure that is moving off Africa with a 70 per cent chance of becoming a tropical storm or hurricane.
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 33 deg C by Aug 12, the agency said. BLOOMBERG