WILDFIRE ENGULFS CALIFORNIA AND OREGON CAUSING MANY TO EVACUATE HOMES

An unusually expansive outbreak of large and fast-moving wildfires threatens communities in three states on Wednesday, with the greatest risks focused on Medford in Oregon, and Oroville, California, as large fires advance in those areas.

"This event is unprecedented. I've talked to people who have been in fire for 20, 30, 40+ years and they've never seen anything like this before. Not this many large, rapidly spreading wildfires across such a broad region," tweeted Nick Nausler, a fire weather specialist with the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

The evacuation in Medford, which took place on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, was prompted by one of many new blazes that started Monday and Tuesday and grew so large that their smoke blocked sunlight as it spread out over the Pacific. The skies took on an eerie orange glow in places like Eugene, Ore., and the San Francisco Bay Area.

The wildfires come after a record-shattering heat wave and amid human-caused climate change that is heightening fire risks, along with temperatures, in the West. These blazes are being driven by strong, dry offshore winds that are causing extreme fire behavior, which can produce everything from mushroom cloud-like plumes of smoke that reach 40,000 feet in height, to vortexes that make it impossible for firefighters to contain an advancing fire.

Here are some significant developments:

• The Glendowner Fire (also known as the Almeda Fire) has prompted the evacuation of Medford, Ore., a city of 82,000 people, where many fled their homes. Areas to the southeast of the city, including Phoenix, Ore., saw the loss of structures as the fire swept through the region Tuesday evening. "Pray for Medford," tweeted resident Jeff Carpenter. "We are on fire tonight."
• The Bear Fire that began in a remote region of Northern California advanced rapidly through timber on Tuesday evening through Wednesday morning, coming close enough to Oroville, Calif., to prompt the evacuation of that community. The fire is part of a larger complex that has rapidly burned about 150,000 acres.
• Red Flag warnings for dangerous fire weather conditions remain in effect for much of the day from Washington State southward to Southern California. Winds have not been as strong as feared in the Los Angeles area.
• Smoke from the ongoing blazes has caused air quality to deteriorate to unhealthy levels across the region.

Smoke from the West Coast wildfires seen Wednesday by satellite. (CIRA/RAMMB)

Satellite imagery of the wildfires shows the extensive effects of this unfolding disaster. Meteorologists and climate scientists have been stunned to see this imagery Wednesday, given that the smoke extends up and down the entire West Coast and out into the Pacific, with tendrils reaching northward toward