Red Flag Warning in Effect for Central and Eastern Washington Through Wednesday Night
The fire-weather warning runs until 11 p.m. Wednesday, August 12, covering areas from the Methow Valley to the Selkirk Mountains, according to warning details reported by fox13seattle.com.
4 reports on this incident · first at Aug 12, 2026, 12:27 p.m. ET
Earlier reports
Aug 12, 2026, 12:36 p.m. ET
Red Flag Warning in Effect for Central and Eastern Washington
Fire weather conditions across Central and Eastern Washington are under a Red Flag Warning, according to fox13seattle.com. A warning is a higher alert level than a watch, indicating that dangerous fire weather is occurring or imminent rather than merely possible.
The warning is in effect until 11 p.m. Pacific time on Wednesday, August 12, as reported by fox13seattle.com. Gusty and erratic outflow winds of up to 40 mph will be possible with any storms that arise, with lightning strikes possible, in Central and Eastern Washington, according to the warning text reported by fox13seattle.com.
Lightning strikes will have the potential to start new wildfires in Central and Eastern Washington, the same warning text states.
The listed areas are the East Washington Central Cascades, East Washington North Cascades, Okanogan Highlands and Kettle Mountains, Selkirk Mountains of Northeast Washington, Foothills of Northeast Washington, Colville Reservation, Okanogan Valley, Methow Valley, Foothills of Central Washington Cascades and the Waterville Plateau, per fox13seattle.com.
Aug 12, 2026, 12:33 p.m. ET
Forecasters Warn Lightning Could Ignite New Wildfires in Central, Eastern Washington
Lightning strikes will have the potential to start new wildfires in Central and Eastern Washington, according to the Red Flag Warning language reported by FOX 13 Seattle. The warning-level alert also states that gusty and erratic outflow winds of up to 40 mph will be possible with any storms that arise.
The warning is in effect until 11 p.m. Pacific time on Wednesday, August 12, 2026.
The areas listed are the East Washington Central Cascades, East Washington North Cascades, Okanogan Highlands and Kettle Mountains, Selkirk Mountains of Northeast Washington, Foothills of Northeast Washington, Colville Reservation, Okanogan Valley, Methow Valley, Foothills of Central Washington Cascades and the Waterville Plateau.
Aug 12, 2026, 12:27 p.m. ETFirst report
Red Flag Warning Issued for Central and Eastern Washington Through Wednesday Evening
A Red Flag Warning covering much of Central and Eastern Washington runs through 11 p.m. on Aug. 12, 2026, according to reporting by fox13seattle.com. The alert is issued at the warning level.
Any storms that develop could bring gusty and erratic outflow winds of up to 40 mph along with lightning, fox13seattle.com reported. Lightning strikes will have the potential to start new wildfires in Central and Eastern Washington.
The areas listed under the warning are the East Washington Central Cascades, the East Washington North Cascades, the Okanogan Highlands and Kettle Mountains, the Selkirk Mountains of Northeast Washington, the Foothills of Northeast Washington, the Colville Reservation, the Okanogan Valley, the Methow Valley, the Foothills of the Central Washington Cascades, and the Waterville Plateau.
This is a developing situation. No information on new fire starts, evacuations or damage was available in the material reviewed.
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Sources
- Seattle weather: Thunderstorms possible, red flag warning issuedfox13seattle.com
Revision history
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