Roosevelt is clear and already sailable before 8 AM Monday

[isobars]

I'm sitting at Roosevelt under perfectly clear blue skies. No sign of any fire anywhere (it's declared under control). It's already blowing low 20s before 8 AM. (The park was full of weekend campers on Sunday PM, with no sign of any evacuation.)

[isobars]

Ditto Tuesday, except for lighter wind.

[isobars]

Uh, Oh ... we have a new issue today/Wednesday. Tuesday was another gorgeous day, with no sign or scent of smoke, but just as the wind got sailable, the park was evacuated in earnest so the firefighters could use it for camping, staging their efforts, and a helicopter pad. No way to know how long that will last.

Every foot of State Road 14 (i.e., the Washington side highway) was closed by midday. Not sure why ... again, not a speck of smoke east of Roosevelt and none visible to the west. You'll want to check that closure out via the internet before considering driving to any Washington launch.

It was neat watching the tanker seaplanes skim the water just east of Roosevelt every few minutes, then fly RIGHT over our heads at full throttle because of their full, oversized pontoons of water. These are specialized aircraft with what sounded like huge engines ... reminded me both visually and viscerally of the powerful P-51 Mustangs that played a huge role -- some say vital -- in the good guys winning that war.

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