The Columbian

Weather & Climate

The Adams County Sheriff's Office is evacuating the town of Lind due to a wildfire in the area.

Washington town told to leave due to wildfire, 10 homes lost

August 4, 2022, 3:03pm Latest News

An entire eastern Washington town was being evacuated Thursday because of a growing wildfire south of town that was burning homes, officials said. Read story

FILE - Nathan Fabre checks on his home and boat destroyed by Hurricane Ida,, Sept. 5, 2021, in Lafitte, La. "We lost everything," said Fabre about the destruction of his home. Federal meteorologists said Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022, this hurricane season may not be quite as busy as they initially thought, but it should still be more active than normal.

Forecasters trim hurricane season outlook a bit, still busy

August 4, 2022, 12:18pm Nation & World

This hurricane season may be a tad quieter than initially projected, but it is still likely to be busier than normal, government forecasters and others say. Read story

A camper is seen partly submerged under water in Carr Creek Lake on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022, near Hazard, Ky.

Water becomes needed commodity in flood-ravaged Kentucky

August 4, 2022, 8:51am Nation & World

National Guard soldiers rushed to distribute bottled water to flood-ravaged eastern Kentucky as forecasters warned of more rain coming to the region. Read story

The Vantage Fire (Kittitas County Sheriff's Office)

One structure lost in Vantage Highway fire

August 4, 2022, 7:34am Latest News

A cabin and three outbuildings were destroyed in the Vantage Highway fire early Wednesday, according to the Southeast Washington Interagency Incident Management Team. Read story

Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

Weather Eye: Marine air cools us down; heat returns this weekend

August 4, 2022, 6:06am Clark County News

How do you spell relief? Marine air. Finally, enough cooler air off the Pacific made it to Clark County to keep our high Wednesday at 85 degrees. Some would say that’s perfect. Others, maybe not. Read story

People cool off in the basement of St. Paul Lutheran Church in downtown Vancouver. "People have been coming and going," said Gerri Hiller, a longtime volunteer at the church. "Some of the guys come, but some of them don't. You can't force them.

Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office confirms 1 heat-related death

August 3, 2022, 6:23pm Clark County Health

The Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office has determined that at least one person died as a result of July’s heat wave in the Pacific Northwest. Read story

Fish biologists work to rescue the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnows from pools of water in the dry Rio Grande riverbed Tuesday, July 26, 2022, in Albuquerque, N.M. For the first time in four decades, the river went dry and habitat for the endangered silvery minnow -- a shimmery, pinky-sized native fish -- went with it.

A race to save fish as Rio Grande dries, even in Albuquerque

August 3, 2022, 6:14pm Nation & World

On a recent, scorching afternoon in Albuquerque, off-road vehicles cruised up and down a stretch of dry riverbed where normally the Rio Grande River flows. The drivers weren’t thrill-seekers, but biologists hoping to save as many endangered fish as they could before the sun turned shrinking pools of water into… Read story

Thousands of lightning strikes hit Northwest after heat wave

August 3, 2022, 12:11pm Latest News

Following last week’s intense heat wave, the Pacific Northwest on Monday saw an unusually high number of lightning strikes, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. Read story

A chimney stands at a home destroyed by the McKinney Fire on Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022, in Klamath National Forest, Calif.

Scenic California river hamlet wiped out by deadly wildfire

August 3, 2022, 12:07pm Nation & World

The scenic Northern California hamlet of Klamath River was home to about 200 people, a community center where they gathered, a corner store and a post office. But the wildfire raging through the forested region near the Oregon state line jumped the river last weekend, killing four residents of the… Read story

In this photo provided by the Nebraska Forest Service, the Carter Canyon wildfire burns in western Nebraska on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022 in Neb. Fire crews battling a western Nebraska wildfire that has destroyed some homes looked Tuesday, Aug, 2, to the skies with hope and trepidation as weather forecasters warned of thunderstorms.

Most of Nebraska wildfire contained, despite lack of rain

August 3, 2022, 12:04pm Nation & World

Fire crews made substantial headway in containing a western Nebraska wildfire that has destroyed some homes, despite getting significantly less rain than officials hoped for. Read story