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This weekend brought record-breaking heat to Eugene, with temperatures reaching 99 degrees Friday and Saturday. Though conditions eased slightly Sunday, fire danger remains high with drought, low humidity and lightning near Oakridge. The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for Monday afternoon and evening in southeast Lane County.
This story has been updated. Read the latest here.
Eugene temperature records were broken Friday and Saturday, according to the National Weather Service, as the city hit 99 degrees both days.
By Saturday afternoon, the heat wave helped create smog as sunlight and wind reacted with emissions such as vehicle exhaust. The reaction produced harmful ground-level ozone, which can trigger coughing, sore throats and worsen asthma. The Lane Regional Air Protection Agency reported ozone levels were elevated but did not reach unhealthy levels.
On Sunday morning and into the early afternoon, smoky and cloudy skies rolled over Eugene and Springfield. The smoke, likely from the Flat Fire northeast of Sisters, in Jefferson County, was too high to affect air quality, according to the air agency.
“This cloud cover is gonna just sort of dampen a little bit of that daytime heating, and it’s already been doing that here this morning,” said Tom Schultz, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Portland.
The cloud cover comes from monsoonal moisture, a seasonal shift in atmospheric circulation from the south that can bring showers. In the southern Willamette Valley, the moisture is not reaching the surface, leaving humidity low and vegetation dry amid drought conditions. Fire danger remains high.
This weather can also produce thunderstorms. On Sunday morning, areas near Oakridge saw a couple of nearby lightning strikes. Forecasters said there was another chance for storms near the Cascade crest in eastern Lane County in the late afternoon and into the evening.
Last week, the National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for Eugene and Springfield because of low humidity, a concern that continues despite the monsoonal pattern. The key difference now, according to Schultz, is the lack of sustained winds.
“So the fire danger that we had a few days ago was for a combination of very low relative humidity and northerly winds,” Schultz said. “The big difference for today [Sunday] is that we just don’t have the winds.”
The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for Monday afternoon and evening in southeast Lane County. It also covers southern Oregon in the Medford area. Strong thunderstorms could send wind gusts of 35 to 50 miles per hour — up to 25 miles outward from its core.
