A fresh blast of marine air sent temperatures plummeting on the North Olympic Peninsula Thursday while the Constance fire in East Jefferson County doubled in size.
The wildfire in Olympic National Park grew from 90 to 180 acres, said Diane Abendroth, park spokeswoman.
Meanwhile, after back-to-back days of 90-degree-plus heat, Port Angeles and Sequim experienced seasonal highs of 71 and 82 degrees, respectively.
Forks, which had baked in the 80s earlier in the week, cooled to a high of 67 degrees.
Port Townsend, which had simmered in highs in the high 80s, had a high temperature of 73.
Quilcene — which had unofficial highs over 100 degrees earlier this week — had a high of 89 degrees, according to the National Weather Service, while Brinnon, which recorded a peak of 101 Wednesday, had a high of 96 Thursday.
“What we’re seeing is the marine air push into locations along the Strait [of Juan de Fuca],” said Kirby Cook, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle.
“The rest of the interior should get that tomorrow.”
Normal temperatures are forecast through the weekend, Cook said.
Nash Huber of Nash’s Organic Produce, whose farm workers have been laboring in the heat on the 400 acres he owns and leases across the Dungeness Valley, said he was glad to see the mercury fall.
“It’s been painful,” Huber said.
The heat “decreases everybody’s effectiveness. It’s expensive on all levels,” he said.
New fires in park
Lightning strikes from an isolated thunderstorm sparked several new fires in the interior of Olympic National Park.
Fire crews are managing three new fires in the Seven Lakes Basin and three more in the Mount Wilder area, park officials said.
An earlier thunderstorm caused a downdraft that inundated Brinnon with smoke from the growing Constance fire, Abendroth said.
“All that smoke went right into town,” she said.
“People got a little alarmed. They’re not used to seeing that much smoke.”
Park officials plan a public meeting at the Brinnon Community Center from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. today to discuss the Constance Fire, which is not considered a threat to the town.
Thunderstorms are not forecast today.
“I’m looking at the radar, and there’s really not much going on,” Cook said.
Abendroth said the Dosewallips trail is closed from the park boundary to the Dosewallips ranger station because of the Constance fire.
The fire, set by lightning July 11 near Lake Constance, is burning in steep terrain northeast of the ranger station.
“Objectives are to contain the fire within park boundaries, potentially through the use of a helicopter to drop water on the fire’s east flank, as the terrain is too steep for safe access by firefighters,” park officials said in a statement.
The Ten-Mile fire in the Duckabush drainage grew to 6 acres Thursday. It was caused by lightning June 23.
The Duckabush trail remains open, Abendroth said. It has been rerouted around the small blaze.
Park officials say small fires have direct benefits to wildlife such as woodpeckers and elk and vegetation like Douglas Fir.
“These fires are a natural part of the Olympic ecosystem,” park superintendant Karen Gustin said.
“Our goal is to manage them in a way that is both safe and ecologically beneficial.”
There were seven fires burning in the park as of Thursday, most of which were small, Abendroth said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz contributed to this report.
