Wildfire in Washington, August 12 to 31, 2001

Name: Wildfire in Washington, August 12 to 31, 2001
Start: 2001-08-12T09:00
End: 2001-08-31T23:59
Location: Washington

August 12 to 31, 2001 · NWS OTX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

2 wildfire, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 2
Property damage: $1.1 million
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 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 Spokane, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 12, 7:31 AM PST, 1 hour 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 12, 7:31 AM PST, 1 hour 29 minutes before

EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON
830 AM PDT SAT AUG 11 2001

THINGS OFF TO AN EARLY START THIS MORNING. UPDATED ZONED TO TAKE OUT
MORNING WORDING. TEMPERATURES AND WIND FORECAST UNCHANGED WITH
UPDATE. SOUNDING QUITE UNSTABLE...BUT THEN AGAIN THIS IS A GIVEN AS
THERE HAS ALREADY BEEN A FEW LIGHTNING STRIKES WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS
MOVING QUICKLY NORTH THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA. WILL HAVE A LULL IN
FURTHER THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT TODAY ONCE THESE CURRENT STORMS MOVE
OUT OF THE AREA WITH FURTHER ACTIVITY PROBABLY PICKING UP AFTER 3 PM
PDT TODAY. WILL UPDATE STATE SFP FOR ERN WA AND NRN IDAHO TO MODIFY
THUNDERSTORM WORDING.

.AS A FURTHER NOTE KOTX RADAR DOWN DUE TO RDA COMPONENT FAILURE UNTIL
FURTHER NOTICE.

ADJACENT RADARS: KATX KPDT KMSO

...THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRODUCT CONCERNING WARNINGS AND FORECASTS
IS VALID ONLY AT THE TIME OF ISSUANCE. THE LATEST WARNING AND
FORECAST INFORMATION WILL BE FOUND IN THE APPROPRIATE PRODUCTS...

GEG 097/064/098 12-
CQV 102/060/103 121
SPT 095/059/096 121
COE 096/062/097 12-
WWP 094/058/095 121
LWS 102/068/103 221
PUW 095/059/096 12-
EAT 098/070/098 110
MWH 101/069/101 110

.KGEG...NONE.
@RUKWBCeKDENFXUS66 KOTX 121531
AFDGEG

EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON
830 AM PDT SUN AUG 12 2001

THINGS OFF TO AN EARLY START THIS MORNING. UPDATED ZONED TO TAKE OUT
MORNING WORDING. TEMPERATURES AND WIND FORECAST UNCHANGED WITH
UPDATE. SOUNDING QUITE UNSTABLE...BUT THEN AGAIN THIS IS A GIVEN AS
THERE HAS ALREADY BEEN A FEW LIGHTNING STRIKES WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS
MOVING QUICKLY NORTH THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA. WILL HAVE A LULL IN
FURTHER THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT TODAY ONCE THESE CURRENT STORMS MOVE
OUT OF THE AREA WITH FURTHER ACTIVITY PROBABLY PICKING UP AFTER 3 PM
PDT TODAY. WILL UPDATE STATE SFP FOR ERN WA AND NRN IDAHO TO MODIFY
THUNDERSTORM WORDING.

.AS A FURTHER NOTE KOTX RADAR DOWN DUE TO RDA COMPONENT FAILURE UNTIL
FURTHER NOTICE.

ADJACENT RADARS: KATX KPDT KMSO

...THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRODUCT CONCERNING WARNINGS AND FORECASTS
IS VALID ONLY AT THE TIME OF ISSUANCE. THE LATEST WARNING AND
FORECAST INFORMATION WILL BE FOUND IN THE APPROPRIATE PRODUCTS...

GEG 097/064/098 12-
CQV 102/060/103 121
SPT 095/059/096 121
COE 096/062/097 12-
WWP 094/058/095 121
LWS 102/068/103 221
PUW 095/059/096 12-
EAT 098/070/098 110
MWH 101/069/101 110

.KGEG...NONE.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Okanogan

When: August 12, 9:00 AM PST to August 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Okanogan County, 3 mi SE of Okanogan
Injuries: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $900,000
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE
Coordinates: 48.549, -119.741 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A weather disturbance moved across eastern Washington early on the morning of August 12, producing hundreds of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes across the region. The "Virginia Lake Complex" of fires resulted and quickly spread out of control. During the first day of the fire, nine structures burned, and two firefighters had to deploy emergency shelters. This complex of fires burned for the rest of August and was contained on September 2 after burning 74,109 acres of land.

Wildfire, Chelan

When: August 12, 2:00 PM PST to August 31, 11:59 PM PST
Where: Chelan County, 20 mi NW of Chelan
Property damage: $200,000
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE
Coordinates: 47.869, -120.619 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The "Rex Creek Complex" of fires resulted from numerous lightning strikes early on the morning of August 12. One vacation home on the north shore of Lake Chelan was destroyed in the first day of the fires' existence. Over half of the acres burned in this complex of fires were on federally-designated wilderness land. The fire burned until late September, scorching over 50,000 acres.

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

Every storm in Washington in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, August 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: 5264210, 5264211.