Dust Storm — Upper Columbia Basin, Washington

2020-09-07 to 2020-09-08 · Upper Columbia Basin, Washington

Event narrative

The Washington Department of Transportation reported State Route 21 closed due to poor visibility from dust and wildfire smoke.

Wider weather episode

Very dry and critical fire conditions over Eastern Washington during July and August produced dry fuels across the region. These fuels, with an incoming cold front's strong winds, created an outbreak of wildfires, blowing smoke, and dust late September 6th - 7th. These conditions ignited over 20 wildfires which destroyed hundreds of thousand acres of land, crops, and homes. 80 percent of the small town of Malden, and nearby Pine City, burned during a fast moving wildfire. There were over 500 miles of Interstate 90, state highways, and roads closed due to fires, low visibility from smoke and dust, and blocked from downed trees. One fatality and two severe injuries occurred when trying to escape one of the wildfires.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 919865. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.