Cataclysmic Western Fires Roar On Except Where It's Snowing (!!??!)

The fires roared on in the western United States on Labor Day as record heat, very strong winds, and in some areas, an approaching wintry cold front fanned the flames. 

Associated Press photo of a firefighter
battling one of many fires in California.

News report showed nighttime darkness in the early afternoon near some wildfires, because of thick smoke.  Residents and summer time campers fled through smoke and flames.

Up in eastern Washington State, a wildfire destroyed the small town of Malden, population about 200.  Several homes in Colfax, Washington also burned.

Massive dust storms in eastern Washington caused several crashes and closed highways, including parts of Interstate 90.  Before the wind picked up and the heat wave rolled in, it had been a virtually rainless summer.  Spokane, Washington has had just 0.07 inches of rain since July 1 - barely a sprinkle. 

Portland, Oregon was engulfed in smoke and dust as super dry east winds gusted to 50 mph around the city. 

As cataclysmic as Washington and Oregon was on Monday, it could get even worse today. Oregon especially is subject to extremely critical fire conditions, in which any fires that start would quickly become huge and erratic and pretty much impossible to stop until winds die down. 

Already, as of last night, some wildfires in Oregon were growing rapidly and showing "extreme fire behavior," which is never a good sign. 

Here in Vermont, we're not getting any extreme weather. But have you noticed that haziness in the sky over the past couple of days. That's largely smoke from the western fires. 

Parts of the Front Range of Colorado were choked in thick smoke and heat Monday, and now it is snowing. The snow is coming down hard in some places. The snow will suppress, but not extinguish a huge wildfire not far from Fort Collins, but at least it won't spread nearly as fast, and the smoke and ash are gone from cities along Colorado's Front Range.

The snow is a problem, of course, as already, snow laden, leafed out trees are starting to collapse. Gardens and crops are obviously ruined, and livestock is in danger from the cold and wet. 

So yeah, overall, just another rough day out west.  

Video of the experience of people trapped by the wildfire near a California lake:

A rather breathless news report from the Creek Fire in California: