Wildfire, Wasco
- When
- May 23, 2:00 PM PST to May 25, 5:00 PM PST
- Where
- Wasco County, 10 mi S of Maupin
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 45.160, -121.168 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Oregon, May 23 to 25, 2001
Afternoon thunderstorms on the 23 of May generated around 700 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in Central Oregon, starting numerous small fires. The largest fire in area burned around 1000 acres in Wasco County near Maupin.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS PDT wrote it up.
Afternoon thunderstorms on the 23 of May generated around 700 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in Central Oregon, starting numerous small fires. The largest fire in area burned around 1000 acres in Wasco County near Maupin. This fire required around 60 firefighters and a helicopter to extinguish.Another stubborn fire burned for around 2 days just northeast of Sisters. Two air tankers and around 90 firefighters were required to stop this blaze, which covered around 90 acres.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Pendleton, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 23, 1:20 PM PST, 40 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 23, 1:20 PM PST, 40 minutes before
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 220 PM PDT WED MAY 23 2001 THERMAL RIDGE OVER THE FORECAST AREA RESULTING IN RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES TODAY...WITH READINGS AROUND 90 IN THE MOUNTAINS AND NEAR 100 IN THE COLUMBIA BASIN. AREAS OF CUMULUS CLOUDS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN OREGON THIS AFTERNOON. CAP MAY BE TOO STRONG TO BREAK AS NO TOWERING CUMULUS CLOUDS HAVE BEEN REPORTED THUS FAR. WILL KEEP AN ISOLATED MENTION OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE CENTRAL AND OCHOCO MOUNTAINS AND THE JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS THIS EVENING HOWEVER. THURSDAY THE UPPER RIDGE AND THERMAL RIDGE SHIFT EAST OVER EASTERN OREGON/WASHINGTON AND THE IDAHO BORDER. A DISTURBANCE OUT AT 130W/35N WILL MOVE INTO CENTRAL AND EASTERN OREGON. THIS WILL ACT AS A FOCUSING MECHANISM TO SET OFF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE CENTRAL THROUGH NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS. ETA MODEL DID PICK UP ON THIS FEATURE...SO AM USING THAT MODEL FOR THIS PACKAGE. TEMPERATURES OVER THE WESTERN SECTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA WILL COOL ABOUT 8 TO 10 DEGREES WHILE THE EASTERN SECTIONS ONLY COOL 2 TO 3 DEGREES. GOOD INSTABILITY AND SHALLOW MOISTURE LINGER OVER EASTERN OREGON FRIDAY...SO WILL LEAVE MENTION OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH FRIDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL COOL DOWN ANOTHER FEW DEGREES FRIDAY AS THERMAL RIDGE PUSHES FURTHER TO THE EAST. MEAD. EXTENDED...A SLIGHT INCREASE IN MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY COMBINED WITH A WEAK IMPULSE TRACKING OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WILL ALLOW FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORM DEVELOP ON SATURDAY. AN UPPER TROUGH WILL SWEEP ACROSS THE REGION SATURDAY AND SUNDAY FOR A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THE BEGINNING OF A COOLING TREND. SHOWERS WILL LINGER OVER THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS INTO MEMORIAL DAY...THE REST OF THE AREA SHOULD BE DRY. BEHIND THE TROUGH...WEAK RIDGING WILL DEVELOP...BECOMING ZONAOL BY THE END OF THE PERIOD FOR CONTINUED DRY CONDITIONS. MJB. PDT 0110 ALW 0110 PSC 0000 YKM 0000 .KPDT...WSR-88D...VCP32/CSR21...OPERATIONAL. .KPDT...NONE.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
Wildfire, Deschutes
- When
- May 23, 2:00 PM PST to May 25, 5:00 PM PST
- Where
- Deschutes County, 8 mi NE of Sisters
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 43.915, -121.228 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Wildfire
- A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heat in California, May 23 to 25, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Oregon, May 23, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, May 23, 2001
- Hail in Michigan, May 23, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, May 23, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, May 23, 2001
- Wildfire in Florida, May 23, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Illinois, May 23, 2001
- Hail in Indiana, May 23, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Mississippi, May 23 to 24, 2001
- Extreme Cold in Alabama, May 23, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Colorado, May 23, 2001
More
Every storm in Oregon in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, May 2001
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5243258, 5243259.