Wildfire in Oregon, September 17 to 20, 2000

A developing strong offshore flow event necessitated the issuing of a Red Flag Warning at the above listed times for fire weather zones 618/619/620. This included all of Curry and Josephine counties (except for the extreme southern portion), and the extreme western portion of Jackson county. The expected conditions included ridgetop winds in excess of 20 mph and minimum relative humidity values near 15%.This event verified in spades as a major offshore event brought record heat (101 degrees at Brookings) to the southern Oregon coast.The Red Mound RAWS reported winds exceeding 20 mph from 17/2316 LST to 18/1216 LST (except for 3 observations), from 18/2316 LST to 19/0216 LST, and from 19/2116 LST to 20/1016 LST. The minimum relative humidity at the Red Mound RAWS during the warning period was 10%. The peak gust was 47 mph.Below the Red Mound RAWS at Brookings, the reported high temperatures were 94 on 9/17 (record high), 101 on 9/18 (record high), 95 on 9/19, and 98 on 9/20 (record high). The peak reported winds were 26 mph sustained and 38 mph gusts.While not as dramatic as the above data, winds at the Sexton Summit ASOS and the Onion Mountain Lookout RAWS also exceeded 20 mph for stretches of time during the warning period.