Oregon heat is returning, and it could bring a bit of unwanted lightning as well.
Temperatures were forecast to surpass 100 degrees east of the Cascades and climb near 100 in the Willamette Valley on Thursday. Thunderstorms could return by Friday night into Saturday, which could bring new wildfires or fire growth.
The National Weather Service issued an excessive heat watch east of the Cascades , for temperatures up to 106 degrees, and a heat advisory west of the Cascades , for temperatures mainly between 95 and 99.
“We could easily see temperatures back up to 100 degrees any number of places from Portland to Eugene,” said Tom Schuldt, a meteorologist with the NWS in Portland.
The bigger concern is monsoonal moisture moving into the Cascades and east of the Cascades that could bring lightning and thunderstorms, leading to fire growth or new fires.
“Obviously we don’t need that at this point,” Schuldt said. “It’s too early to tell exactly what we’re going to see but it’s a concern right now that we’ll be able to forecast more in depth the closer we get to the event.”