Wildfire in Washington, August 16 to 20, 2002

Name: Wildfire in Washington, August 16 to 20, 2002
Start: 2002-08-16T02:00
End: 2002-08-20T12:00
Location: Washington

August 16 to 20, 2002 · NWS OTX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The early morning high wind event on August 16 blew over dozens of power lines. The downed power lines, dry fuels and high wind then contributed to several wildfires.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $200,000
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 happened

The episode as NWS OTX wrote it up.

The early morning high wind event on August 16 blew over dozens of power lines. The downed power lines, dry fuels and high wind then contributed to several wildfires. The largest of these was the Haley Creek fire, located about 8 miles south of Omak on the Colville Indian Reservation. It grew to 193 acres and destroyed four structures, including two residences.

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 16, 1:30 AM PST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 16, 1:30 AM PST, 30 minutes before

EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON
230 AM PDT FRI AUG 16 2002

NOT MUCH CHANGE AS MODELS PRETTY CONSISTENT IN BRINGING NEXT SHORT
WAVE ACROSS THE NORTHERN PART OF THE CWA...JUST CLIPPING THE NRN ID
PANHANDLE TODAY. AGAIN THIS IS A DRY SHORT WAVE FOR OUR CWA AS LAYER
RHS VERY DRY TO 20K FEET. SHORT WAVE SWINGS THRU TODAY BUT ALREADY
ENHANCING PGRADS ACROSS THE CWA. NO INCREASE IN WIND NOTED YET PER
ASOS/RAWS...BUT SHOULD SEE AN INCREASE IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS.
THE EXPECTED BREEZY/WINDY WINDS COUPLED UP W/LOW RHS HAS PROMPTED
THE ISSUANCE OF A RFW FOR FIRE WX CONCERNS. DRY NW FLOW ALOFT
CONTINUES THROUGH SAT W/NEXT SHORT WAVE APPROACHING THE COAST SAT EVE
THRU SUN. THIS NEXT SHORT WAVE IS DAMPENED OUT INTO AN OPEN
WAVE...WHICH IS MUCH DIFFERENT THAN A COUPLE OF MODEL RUNS AGO WHEN
WE WERE SEEING A CLOSED LOW DIVING INTO THE CWA. STILL NO CLOUDS AND
NO PCPN. POPS WILL REMAIN ZERO THRU THE SHORT TERM W/NEARLY CLEAR
SKIES. A LITTLE COOLER TEMPS TODAY THEN WE REMAIN STATUS QUO FOR THE
NEXT FEW DAYS AS FLOW PATTERN STAYS THE SAME.

.EXTENDED...(MON-THU)ANOTHER WEAK SHORT WAVE/TROFY PERIOD MONDAY
FOLLOWED BY RIDGING TUESDAY AND ANOTHER WEAK SHORT WAVE WEDNESDAY. NO
REAL CHANGE IN THE WX PATTERN THROUGH THE EXTENDED. TEMPERATURES TO
REMAIN JUST A LITTLE BELOW NORMAL WITH NO PRECIP EXPECTED. GDB

...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 082/045/081/047/081 00000
COE 080/043/080/044/081 00000
PUW 079/042/079/043/079 00000
LWS 086/051/087/052/085 00000
CQV 084/047/084/048/085 00000
SPT 078/044/078/045/081 00000
WWP 077/040/077/042/076 00000
EAT 086/054/088/055/088 00000
MWH 087/050/089/051/088 00000

.OTX...RED FLAG WARNING FOR STRONG WIND AND LOW RH ALL FIRE WEATHER
ZONES TODAY.

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, Okanogan

When: August 16, 2:00 AM PST to August 20, 12:00 PM PST
Where: Okanogan County, 8 mi S of Omak
Property damage: $200,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 48.549, -119.741 (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

Every storm in Washington in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, 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: 5315828.