COEUR d'ALENE - Climatologist Cliff Harris had more than 50 people, from Athol to Worley, call him Thursday asking him if there is rain in the forecast.

With wildfires hitting the region at an alarming rate, Harris said residents with summertime precipitation on their mind is not surprising.

"I've been keeping the weather here for over a quarter of a century and I've never seen such danger levels for fire and conditions like we have now," he added. "What we need is a good soaking rain."

Forest Service personnel, from Idaho and Washington, have also called Harris asking about the forecast. On Thursday one Forest Service employee gave the climatologist a suggestion when Harris informed him there is a chance for heavy rains at the end of August "if we can pull that flow from southern Alaska into our area."

"He told me 'Why don't you get the churches to pray that the rain will come in and it won't fall apart?'" Harris said. "I thought that was a pretty good idea, so I called over 100 churches and I'm getting them to pray for rain."

The response to Harris' calls was overwhelmingly positive, he said, and most of the churches now plan on adding prayers for rain to their Saturday and Sunday services.

"And people who aren't believers, they can just put it in their thoughts," Harris added.

Rainfall over the last two months hasn't even reached a third of the normal levels, according to Harris. That, coupled with wind speeds as high as 30 mph on Thursday afternoon that were expected to get even faster Thursday night, raises serious red flags for the longtime climatologist.

"One spark and we could see whole hillsides go up in smoke - it's a very dangerous situation and we all need to be aware of it," Harris said.