Firefighters standing by at Twisp as the killer fire approaches

Twisp fire, August 19, 2015The fire that killed three firefighters on Wednesday is still very active and is heading toward the town of Twisp, Washington. The above tweet was sent by KHQ reporter Gabe Cohen at 10 Wednesday night. It sounds like firefighters in the town are going to have their hands full. The entire town and the nearby community of Winthrop are under evacuation orders affecting 3,000 people.

Twisp fire - August 19, 2015

And the weather will not be their friend. Red Flag Warnings are posted for the area through Friday night for strong winds. The chart below (click on it to see a larger version) predicts that Wednesday night the wind at Twisp will be from the northwest at 15 to 17 mph with gusts to 24 mph, pushing the fire closer to the town. It will decrease to 6 to 15 during the day on Thursday and then crank up again Thursday night with gusts up to 22 mph. Friday a cold front will move through but the relative humidity will remain fairly low and the winds will be even stronger, gusting to 28 mph.

Twisp wind and weather