The 2022 Washington wildfire season officially began in March 2022. As of August 4, 2022, there have been 4 large wildfires that have burned across the state of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. This season started quieter than normal due to unusually colder weather that kept Eastern and Southeastern Washington burning index's largely below normal into July. As of October 2022, a total of of land in the state was burned – the fewest number of acres burned since 2012.

Season narrative

Monsoon-driven thunderstorm activity started several wildfires in August. One of these located south of

Lind Lind is a surname of both Swedish and Estonian origin. In Swedish, it is the word for the linden tree. In Estonian, it is the word for bird. Geographical distribution As of 2014, 36.1% of all known bearers of the surname ''Lind'' were residen ...

in Adams County was ignited on the morning of August 4 and grew to more than . It resulted in 10 homes burned and the evacuation of the town. Smoke from the Cedar Creek Fire in central Oregon moved into

Southwest Washington Southwest Washington is a geographical area of the U.S. state of Washington, encompassing roughly half of Western Washington. It generally includes the Olympia area southwards to the Oregon-Washington state line at Vancouver. Olympia, the state ca ...

then the

Puget Sound region The Puget Sound region is a coastal area of the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. state of Washington, including Puget Sound, the Puget Sound lowlands, and the surrounding region roughly west of the Cascade Range and east of the Olympic Mountains. ...

on September 10; on that day

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

recorded the worst air quality of any major city in the world. The Bolt Creek Fire, a human-caused wildfire on the western slopes of the Cascades September 10–11, caused the closure of

U.S. Highway 2 U.S. Route 2 or U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is an east–west U.S. Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected by various roadways in southern Canada. Unlike some routes, whi ...

for over a week in September, and the evacuation of

Skykomish, Washington Skykomish is a town in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 198 as of the 2010 census, down from an estimated peak of "several thousand" in the 1920s. Located in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, 49 miles east o ...

. By early October the fire was 36 percent contained and continuing to spread northwards into the

Wild Sky Wilderness The Wild Sky Wilderness is a wilderness area in the western Cascade Range of Washington state. The wilderness is within the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest north of the U.S. Highway 2 towns of Index and Skykomish. The wilderness flan ...

, causing poor air quality in western Washington. Highway 2 was closed again on October 5 and October 9–10 to remove burned trees threatening road safety, and intermittent closures were expected to continue later in October. On the weekend of October 15–16, easterly winds over the Cascades brought dry, subsiding air and record temperatures to the Puget Sound area. The weather conditions contributed to the initiation and expansion of fires on the west slopes of the Cascades, and the worst air quality of the season so far occurred in Seattle that weekend. Fires included the Nakia Creek Fire in

and one on private timberland near

Loch Katrine Loch Katrine (; or ) is a freshwater loch in the Trossachs area of the Scottish Highlands, east of Loch Lomond, within the historic county and registration county of Perthshire and the contemporary district of Stirling. The loch is about lon ...

in the

Alpine Lakes Wilderness The Alpine Lakes Wilderness is a large National Wilderness Preservation System, wilderness area spanning the Central Cascades of Washington (state), Washington state in the United States. The wilderness is located in parts of Wenatchee National F ...

30 miles east of Seattle. Flames from the Loch Katrine fire could be seen from Seattle. On October 18 and 19, due to wildfire smoke, Seattle had the worst air quality of any major city in the world.

List of wildfires

The following is a list of fires that burned more than , produced significant structural damage or casualties, or were otherwise notable. It may not be complete or reflect the most recent information. Costs are in 2022 USD.

References

External links

Washington wildfires
Washington State Department of Natural Resources {{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, wildfires 2022

Wildfires A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

2022 Washington (state) wildfires 2022 meteorology

Season narrative

List of wildfires

Further reading

References

External links