Oregon, 2002

Wildfire in Oregon, August 1 to 19, 2002

August 1 to 19, 2002 · NWS BOI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 wildfire, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 Boise, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 31, 7:40 PM PST, 4 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 7:40 PM PST, 4 hours 20 minutes before
SOUTHWEST IDAHO/SOUTHEAST OREGON AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE IDAHO
940 PM MDT WED JUL 31 2002

DRY WESTERLY FLOW DOMINATES THE SYNOPTIC PATTERN ACROSS THE AREA
WITH THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY NORTHEAST AND SOUTHWEST OF THE STATE.
AREA OF INSTABILITY OVER NORTHERN CALIFORNIA MAY CREEP A LITTLE
CLOSER FOR THURSDAY AND POSSIBLE CROSS INTO OUR SOUTHERNMOST BORDER.
FOR THE MOST PART HOWEVER, THE REGION SHOULD BE DRY AND STABLE ONCE
AGAIN BUT WITH WARMER TEMPS.  ZONAL FLOW CURRENTLY OVER THE AREA
WILL BUCKLE TOMORROW AS A STRONGER SHORT WAVE CARVES ALONG THE
NORTHWEST COAST. ADDITIONALLY, LIMITED TROPICAL MOISTURE (MOSTLY
HIGH LEVEL) WILL EVENTUALLY GET PICKED UP IN WESTERLY FLOW AND MAKE
ITS WAY ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN AND INTERMOUNTAIN REGION. ON FRIDAY,
AHEAD OF THE PACIFIC SHORT WAVE, AIR MASS BECOMES A LITTLE MORE
UNSTABLE AND THUS THE THREAT OF CONVECTION WILL INCREASE AT THAT
TIME. MOST LIKELY AREAS FRO ISOLATED ACTIVITY ARE NORTHERN NEVADA
AND MAGIC VALLEY OF IDAHO AND POINT EAST. NO UPDATES TO THE CURRENT
FORECAST.

.BOI...NONE.

G.SKARI

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Baker

When
August 1, 12:00 AM PST to August 19, 3:00 PM PST
Where
Baker County, 9 mi SW of Unity
Reported by
OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
Coordinates
44.709, -117.675 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Monument Rock Fire was started by lightning on July 12th and spread to cover over 24,000 acres before being contained on August 9th. Table Rock Lookout was evacuated and all recreational roads into the area were closed. Cost of fighting the fire totaled $7.5 million when it was combined with the Malheur Complex Fire on August 9th. The Monument-Malheur Complex Fire was contained on August 19th. The combined fire covered over 44,000 acres. The total cost of fighting the combined fire was $30.7 million. No structures were lost.

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

More

Every storm in Oregon in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, August 2002

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: 5316446.