Rain, and in some cases snow, has slowed many of the large fires that have been burning in the western United States. Compare the heat detected by a satellite in the map above (current) with the map below from August 24.
As you can see below, some areas in California, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming received over a quarter of an inch in the last week, with a few locations getting more than half an inch. And in Orange County near Los Angeles that got almost two inches of rain on Tuesday, officials were dealing with flooding in Newport Beach and telling residents where they could obtain sandbags.
Of course precipitation is expected during this time of the year in the West except in southern California, and is the reason that fire seasons usually start to wind down in the northwest one-quarter of the US in September.
The image below shows the normal precipitation for the seven day period ending September 15, 2015.
