Looking to move here in the future, but concerned about wildfires (cinema, camp)

[MovingForward59]

Originally Posted by potanta

Sadly I don't like humidity! The Midwest has what I like in terms of space and safety, but doesn't have dry summers or beautiful scenery. Honestly, I'd think Vermont would be a great state to live in where it doesn't get too humid. I think besides the Midwest, I'd say the "West" like the interior is always better to live in these days. Coastal states always have these problems. The only problems you would have in the interior of the country are mostly human errors like car pileups during snowstorms or black lives matter rioters burning down cities. I'd rather hear about car pileups than a bunch of wildfires. I think my cousin and I should reconsider Oregon until technology is developed to reverse climate change and bring the Earth to normal. Wildfires affect all states of the West, but I feel like the interior states of our country like the "West" and Midwest are not suffering the effects of climate change.

The Midwest is LESS humid than the East Coast.
You need to come live out here before being so judgemental & dismissive.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by NW4me

Good point, but bunched-together houses seem to be all that developers are building today.

As long as people keep buying kindling wood houses bunched together, the developers will keep building them. I can understand people's desire to own a home, but you have to make responsible decisions, and buying the first cookie-cutter home you come across, is probably not the best decision. Yet that is what most people seem to do. There are other options.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

It depends upon how hot the fire was. The trees might survive a brush fire, but they do not survive a hot fire that is burning up in the trees.



Take a drive to Sisters and take a look at all the charred dead trees in that area. Even the Ponderosa Pines will not survive a really hot fire.

I agree that how hot the fire is makes a big difference, and yes I have driven to Sisters. We will see, but so far I don't see any evidence of a lot of burned up trees. Most of the damage seems to be to structures.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by evening sun

Some trees, need fire to propagate. Fire has been part of life in the West for thousands of years. The Natives knew this too. But we do need better forest management.

And some don't "need fire to propagate." Fire ecology isn't one-size-fits-all, and these spruce-and-hemlock coastal rainforests didn't evolve with consistent fire activity.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by NW4me

Good point, but bunched-together houses seem to be all that developers are building today.

Near my old home on Jennie Road, Lyons. Not a bunched-together, cookie-cutter house among the 29 homes on that winding country road. Ten are left now.

https://katu.com/news/local/beachie-...6Z7hYTqxzNDxXg

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

And some don't "need fire to propagate." Fire ecology isn't one-size-fits-all, and these spruce-and-hemlock coastal rainforests didn't evolve with consistent fire activity.

Douglas fir is a post-fire rapid colonizer that needs mineral soil and direct sunlight for the seedlings to be successful. Pinyon pine requires fire to prep the seeds for germination, and to kill off competing juniper. Juniper is a water thief that kills everything, and will destroy the whole ecology of an area if it becomes dominant, so a fire will save a lot of species just because it kills the juniper. Oak savanna also requires fire to kill competing vegetation. Lodgepole pine will colonize thick as the hair on a dog after a fire, but will burn again at the first spark.

As you say, spruce and western red cedar are the only real climax old growth forests in the PNW.

[SusVelo]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

As long as people keep buying kindling wood houses bunched together, the developers will keep building them. I can understand people's desire to own a home, but you have to make responsible decisions, and buying the first cookie-cutter home you come across, is probably not the best decision. Yet that is what most people seem to do. There are other options.

What do you want people to be doing, sprawling out all over the countryside?

[moshywilly]

Originally Posted by MovingForward59

The Midwest is LESS humid than the East Coast.
You need to come live out here before being so judgemental & dismissive.

The Midwest, unless you mean the states in the very middle of the country where it is arid on its western end? I just Googled that and it says that the Midwest summers are humid. I've actually learned in a Physics course in college that the Midwest climate is actually worse than the East Coast climate because the oceans are responsible for regulating temperatures. In coastal states, oceans keep the land cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, so the Midwest actually gets more extremes due to not having an ocean. The ocean also stops tornadoes, however, due to climate change, South Jersey has been tornadoes for the past few years.

[Parnassia]

Originally Posted by potanta

The Midwest, unless you mean the states in the very middle of the country where it is arid on its western end? I just Googled that and it says that the Midwest summers are humid. I've actually learned in a Physics course in college that the Midwest climate is actually worse than the East Coast climate because the oceans are responsible for regulating temperatures. In coastal states, oceans keep the land cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, so the Midwest actually gets more extremes due to not having an ocean. The ocean also stops tornadoes, however, due to climate change, South Jersey has been tornadoes for the past few years.

Extremes in temperatures, yes, but there are other factors that affect temperature and humidity. A big one is elevation. Higher elevations tend to be cooler in summer as well as drier. Humid air is heavier. Lots of places in the more arid western states are higher elevation than the Midwest. The hottest place in the west are at very low elevation, even below sea level. As for the Midwest being more humid than the East Coast, not so much. You are forgetting three rather huge influences...the direction of current flow offshore (which affects the temperature of the ocean), differences in regional topography (western states are a lot more mountainous than eastern states), and the shape of the continental shelves (the Pacific shelf is a lot steeper than the Atlantic). On the east coast, Atlantic currents pull water north up from the Gulf of Mexico and the tropics. Easier evaporation which just adds moisture to the air. Not much blocks that warmer humid air as it flows inland. Not so on the Pacific coast. Pacific currents circulate colder water down along the coast from the north. On the west coast, most of the ocean moisture gets blocked fairly quickly by range after range of mountains. Ocean moisture is forced to rise in elevation where it condenses and falls as rain. Much of that moisture never reaches inland areas which is why so much of the west is desert.

[Cinema Cat]

Originally Posted by Cloudy Dayz

As long as people keep buying kindling wood houses bunched together, the developers will keep building them.

For anyone in fire prone areas, it's a good idea to replace you roof with a fireproof roof. Some houses have tin roofs. And some roof tiles are fireproof.