2025-12-20T00:00:00-07:00
...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION FOR IN AND IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT TO THE FOOTHILLS, BETWEEN 5500 AND 9000 FEET, FOR BOULDER AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES ON FRIDAY... Strong west winds of 30-40 mph with gusts as high as 85 mph in the foothills of Boulder and northern Jefferson Counties will continue until early evening. Relative humidity values had dropped into the upper single digits and lower teens. Thus, the Particularly Dangerous Situation will remain in place til around 5-6 pm, with only a slow improvement thereafter as winds slowly weaken. Red Flag conditions, however, will persist through the rest of the evening as we remain in a near record warm, dry, and windy airmass along the Front Range through midnight. In fact, strong, gusty winds will persist through much of the night with only a slow improvement in humidity values. Thus, near critical Red Flag conditions will occur into early Saturday morning. While most of the Denver metro area has seen lighter winds prevail most of the day, a period of strong, gusty winds is expected to develop this evening and likely last past midnight, producing Red Flag conditions there. * AFFECTED AREA...Fire Weather Zones 238, 240, 241, 242 and 243. * TIMING...Until midnight MST tonight. * WINDS...West 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 50 mph. * RELATIVE HUMIDITY...As low as 9 percent. * IMPACTS...Conditions will be favorable for rapid fire spread. Avoid outdoor burning and any activity that may produce a spark and start a wildfire.
Summary
Total streamflow across the
Pend Oreille River
was last observed at
67,200
cfs, and is expected to yield approximately
133,290
acre-ft of water today; about 218%
of normal.
River levels are high.
Average streamflow for this time of year is
30,874 cfs,
with recent peaks last observed
on
2011-06-18 when daily discharge volume was observed at
243,000 cfs.
Maximum discharge along the river is currently at the
Pend Oreille River Below Box Canyon Near Ione
reporting a streamflow rate of 34,700 cfs.
This is also the highest stage along the Pend Oreille River, with a gauge stage of
91.4 ft at this location.
This river is monitored from 2 different streamgauging stations along the Pend Oreille River, the highest being situated at an altitude of 2,035 ft, the
Pend Oreille River At Newport Wa.
River Details
| Last Updated | 2025-12-19 |
| Discharge Volume | 133,290 ACRE-FT |
| Streamflow |
67,200.0 cfs
+800.0 cfs (+1.2%) |
| Percent of Normal | 217.66% |
| Maximum |
243,000.0 cfs
2011-06-18 |
| Seasonal Avg | 30,874 cfs |
River Streamflow Levels
| Streamgauge | Streamflow | Gauge Stage | 24hr Change (%) | % Normal | Minimum (cfs) | Maximum (cfs) | Air Temp | Elevation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Pend Oreille River At Newport Wa
USGS 12395500 |
32500 cfs | 37.37 ft | 0.93 | |||||
|
Pend Oreille River Below Box Canyon Near Ione
USGS 12396500 |
34700 cfs | 91.4 ft | 1.46 |
Seasonal Discharge Comparison
Maximum Streamflow Discharge
Streamflow Elevation Profile
The Pend Oreille River ( pond-ə-RAY) is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately 130 miles (209 km) long, in northern Idaho and northeastern Washington in the United States, as well as southeastern British Columbia in Canada. In its passage through British Columbia its name is spelled Pend-d'Oreille River. It drains a scenic area of the Rocky Mountains along the U.S.-Canada border on the east side of the Columbia. The river is sometimes defined as the lower part of the Clark Fork, which rises in western Montana. The river drains an area of 66,800 square kilometres (25,792 sq mi), mostly through the Clark Fork and its tributaries in western Montana and including a portion of the Flathead River in southeastern British Columbia. The full drainage basin of the river and its tributaries accounts for 43% of the entire Columbia River Basin above the confluence with the Columbia. The total area of the Pend Oreille basin is just under 10% of the entire 258,000-square-mile (670,000 km2) Columbia Basin. Box Canyon Dam is currently underway on a multimillion-dollar project for a fish ladder.