Preparedness and Communications

King County, Wash.,’s new 12-point Wildfire Risk Reduction Strategy enlists the expertise of 29 different local entities but also calls on the public and private forest landowners to do their part to mitigate wildfire risk.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has revised its hurricane prediction from May, including a slightly lower chance of an above-average season and fewer named storms.

Experts and officials said the ordeal offers a stark warning that the area’s storm systems and water managers must confront: The warming climate is making major downpours more common and fueling more runoff than ever.

As the city endures — or even celebrates — several days at or above 90 degrees that could stretch into the weekend, these deviations from the region’s mild summers are predicted to become part of Seattle’s fabric.

On Tuesday, King County released its first-ever Wildfire Risk Reduction Strategy, a 12-point plan to bolster the region’s ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from large burns.

Across the globe, heat-trapping gases released by human activity are causing temperatures to rise and contributing to droughts, wildfires and extreme rainfall at a rate faster than scientists had predicted.

Two massive wildfires have torn through here over the last 15 years, burning with such intensity through so large an area that the conifer forest will likely be unable to regenerate on its own, experts say.

A heat advisory for the region was issued Monday by the National Weather Service. The advisory was to remain in effect from noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday, with a heat index value as high as 108.

"I am pretty environmentally sensitive, and I figure if I am going to live in the forest, and the forest hasn't been properly managed for about 100 years, it was up to us to do the work."

While an especially rainy spring delayed the start of wildfire season in Oregon, state officials now say the hot, dry conditions are once again primed for fire activity.

The funding, approved by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in March 2020, was part of a $2.2 trillion stimulus bill that came at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

Ahead of what promises to be another severe fire season on the West Coast, many U.S. Forest Service firefighters are leaving their jobs due to low wages, worsening conditions and poor quality of life.

Climate change and record dryness are creating an increasingly dangerous situation for California. Did the Golden State learn anything from its last drought? Experts say yes and no.

With heat index values expected to rise to between 100 and 110 degrees, the National Weather Service issued an Excessive Heat Warning covering all of western Ohio set to remain in effect through Wednesday night.

An atmospheric river of rain is churning toward Northwest Washington with the intensity of an autumn storm, packing strong wind and heavy rain and leading to lowland flooding, road closures and scattered power outages.