Extreme heat and dry weather are expected to continue through the end of June and area officials are making changes to assist residents and prevent wildfires.
A heat wave is expected in northwest Oregon, including the Eugene area, late this week through early next week, causing the National Weather Service in Portland to institute an excessive heat watch for Friday to Monday, with high temperatures running 20 to 30 degrees above normal for late June.
Following an already-dry spring, it’s worrying to have extreme heat this early in the summer in terms of fire danger, hydrologist Andy Bryant with the National Weather Service in Portland said.
“For me, one of the concerns is the timing of this, shortly before the Independence Day holiday,” he said. “Having it be so hot and dry and going into the holiday, and the potential for people to do things that involve sparks and flames.”
The continued hot weather is also expected to cycle out the moisture from the vegetation and soil that came in some beneficial rains last week, Bryant noted.
Lane County declares extreme drought emergency
The lack of moisture moved the Lane County Board of Commissioners to declare a local emergency Tuesday due to extreme drought conditions that are expected to last into the summer months.
The declaration opens up "a host of tools and resources to water right users in Lane County such as farmers, agriculture and businesses that may be affected by surface water rights," according to Lane County Emergency Manager Patence Winningham.
“Lane County is experiencing a mix of extreme drought in the Cascade Foothills and severe drought nearly everywhere else,” Winningham said in a news release.
The emergency declaration asks the Oregon Office of Emergency Management to recommend adding Lane County to the state’s emergency declaration and to direct the Oregon Water Resources Department to make available temporary transfers of water rights, emergency water use permits and use of existing right options and agreements.
A state drought declaration allows the Oregon Water Resources Department to offer certain temporary tools with expedited review processes and reduced fee schedules to water rights holders in a drought-declared county, according to the news release.
The last drought emergency in Lane County was declared in 2015.
Fireworks ban south of 18th Avenue
In response to drought conditions, the Eugene City Council passed an ordinance Monday night that bans the use of fireworks in the area south of 18th Avenue and east of Agate Street within city limits through the rest of 2021 and all of 2022. It also bans the sale of fireworks in that area in 2022.
Emily Fox, a Eugene resident, was in favor of the ordinance, who said during the meeting that the area's dry conditions have been particularly bad this year.
"I think this year especially, after the Holiday Farm Fire, people are concerned about the possibility of fire and are willing to find another way to celebrate the Fourth of July," Fox said.
Jason Trout, a regional manager for TNT Fireworks, said at Monday's meeting he was in favor of the 2021 ban on the use of fireworks due to the drought and said he would help with educating the community about it. However, he was against the ban on the sale of fireworks going through all of 2022 without knowing what the weather will be like.
"We haven't the prognosis to ban fireworks a year later without knowing what the weather is going to be like or what the drought conditions will be like — (it) seems a little premature," Trout said.
The ordinance was unanimously passed and took effect immediately.
Possible record-high heat incoming
The Eugene-Springfield area is expected to either tie or break high temperature records this weekend, with no rain to follow it the rest of the month, according to the National Weather Service.
Current forecasts predict Eugene will have highs of 100 on Saturday and 102 on Sunday, while the record highs for Saturday and Sunday are 98 degrees, both set in 2015.
“It’s possible you could see triple digits this weekend, it’ll be very close,” Bryant with the National Weather Service said.
The weather is expected to be cooler than in the Portland area, where highs of 103 and 102 are expected on Saturday and Sunday.
After the heat peaks this weekend, the weather is expected to stay dry through the rest of June, Bryant said, with some days likely providing “relief” in the 80s, which is still above average.
He also noted the temperature isn’t expected to cool down as much as usual at night this weekend, with temperatures dropping to the lower 60s overnight, which Bryant said are better than the predicted overnight lows in the lower 70s in the Portland area.
Contact reporter Adam Duvernay at aduvernay@registerguard.com. Follow on Twitter @DuvernayOR.
The Link LonkJune 23, 2021 at 08:18AM
https://www.registerguard.com/story/news/2021/06/22/eugene-weather-forecast-hot-dry-drought-emergency-fireworks-ban-lane-county/5313088001/
Dry weather, extreme heat brings Lane County drought emergency and Eugene fireworks ban - The Register-Guard
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