West Coast Fires/Cold Weather

It has rained overnight in Eastern Washington. Looks like showers most of the day.
It will put a big damper on the fires!

Thanks to all for info... We'll still be heading West but will follow advice from ALL...

Ted

IceWolf48 wrote:
We're heading out west at the end of Sept and looking for info about conditions out there. Are we safe planning a trip through the N.W. this time of year?

We have a '12 Tundra w/2016 31ft Rockwood Ultra-Lite (9,100 GVW/1,100 king-pin) and this is first long pull through mountains, all feedback is welcome!!!

Conditions -

The *Roads and Routes* forum (here) might be helpful.

Some folks on here follow all the forums - and/or the "newest" threads & posts.
However, some only follow the forums for their type of RV.

So when you post to *Fifth Wheels* - you may be drastically limiting your "audience" as well as replies.

Might be beneficial to indicate exactly where you plan (or wish) to visit - as well as your planned route.

You can ask the Mod to move your thread to Roads & Routes, and it will still show here (although as "moved" to it's new location) -or- you could start a new thread, but it can't be a duplicate.

~

We're doing the same, planning a trip mid to end September. Original plan was for Glacier, then we switched to Wyoming, but found a lot of the FS CG close just after Labor Day, so we found a FS CG in Wyoming with E that stays open till the snow files, usually end of September, then we'll move to Gros Ventre in the Tetons. As our trip gets closer we'll make our final decision and hopefully will still end up going to Glacier., I check their webcams daily and I check monthly forecasts too which help in planning. We have solar and a generator for boon docking, large tanks, and a Heater Buddy to take the chill off for cold mornings.

As far as travel restrictions due to fires, we originally were going up through Kooskia, ID, over scenic Hwy 12 by the Lochsa through Lolo Pass, then up to Glacier, but if we go, we'll take a different route. We also have Mammoth CG as an option too. So, key is to plan your route, plan alternate routes, plan your stops and campgrounds and plan alternates should you have to change your plans.

It looks like many of these fires will be burning until the Fall rains come, it they ever do. There is not enough manpower or $$$ to win the battle at this point.

Video showing fire status in WA State.

I would not change your plans for coming to the West, just be aware of local conditions and potential travel restrictions.

Keep this website bookmarked to check later. We have no idea what these fires will be like in September.

Right now it wouldn't surprise me if the Omak fire made it to Grand Coulee dam.

We live in the valley about an hour east of Newport. Headed to the Newport area on Sunday when it was nice and smoky in the valley. Had a bit of smoke when we got to the coast but it was gone by Monday. Hard to tell what will be the situation a month from now but in these parts a normal September will give a small amount of rain, but not like a normal winter.

Last year when we went to the North West USA, I found a website that had a 30 day forecast. We used information to time our arrival and departure. The information was helpful and fairly accurate.

Keep in mind, the PNW has vastly different climates, west and east of the Cascades and then the coast areas. It would really depend on "where" you will be traveling. I would agree with most that by end of September we "should" be starting a more wet pattern, but last year it wasn't until late October that some areas didn't get started on having more rain.

Anyway, more information on where are you planning on traveling will give you a better answer.

Remember by the end of Sept east of the cascades can and likely will see freezing temps overnight and 60s and 70s daytime highs. Plan accordingly because lots of eastern Oregon parks will either be closed or have curtailed facilities.