Wildfire in Washington, July 1 to 2, 2004

Name: Wildfire in Washington, July 1 to 2, 2004
Start: 2004-07-01T17:00
End: 2004-07-02T05:00
Location: Washington

July 1 to 2, 2004 · NWS PDT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A fast moving brush fire, centered 12 miles north-northwest of Ellensburg, burned 750 acres of sagebrush. S.

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.

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $1,000
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 PDT wrote it up.

A fast moving brush fire, centered 12 miles north-northwest of Ellensburg, burned 750 acres of sagebrush. The fire burned between U.S. Highway 97 and Smithson Road, where strong winds propelled the fire over a ridge into more dry sage brush near Bonneville Power Administration powerlines. One home was forced to evacuate as well near U.S. Highway 97. Four homes and several outbuildings were saved from the flames by firefighters, but one outbuilding was lost. Over 80 firefighters from Kittitas County Fire District along with the cities of Rosyln and Kittitas and the state Department of Natural Resources fought the fire. The Ellensburg ASOS reported sustained winds 15 to 25 MPH with gusts up to 30 MPH during the evening hours on July 1st.

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 Jul 1, 1:15 PM PST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 1, 1:15 PM PST, 3 hours 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OREGON
215 PM PDT THU JUL 1 2004

.SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE
DEVELOPED IN A LINE EXTENDING FROM SE DESCHUTES COUNTY...ACROSS
CROOK AND GRANT COUNTIES...AND UP TO ASOTIN COUNTY.  STORMS ARE
ASSOCIATED WITH AN UPPER WAVE MOVING EAST OF THE CASCADES...AS SEEN
ON WATER VAPOR LOOPS.  STORM MOTION HAS BEEN BETWEEN 10-15 MPH FOR
MOST OF THE STORM CELLS...YET THE ONES IN ASOTIN COUNTY ARE MOVING
SLOWLY.  HAVE COVERED THESE THUNDERSTORMS WITH NOWCASTS.  A DRIER
WESTERLY FLOW WILL TAKE OVER THE REGION OVERNIGHT...WITH THE
CONVECTION DIMINISHING AFTER MIDNIGHT.  OVERALL...THIS WEEKEND LOOKS
DRY FOR MOST OF THE AREA.  A WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL REMAIN OVER
THE REGION FRIDAY THROUGH INDEPENDENCE DAY.  SOME LINGERING LOW
LEVEL MOISTURE AND OROGRAPHIC LIFT WILL RESULT IN A FEW SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY.  HAVE
DROPPED ANY MENTION OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FOR INDEPENDENCE
DAY...AS A SHORTWAVE RIDGE MOVES ACROSS THE PACIFIC NW.  WINDS WILL
BE BREEZY ACROSS THE KITTITAS VALLEY...THE EASTERN COLUMBIA
GORGE...AND PORTIONS OF THE LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN AS SURFACE HIGH
PRESSURE BUILDS.  SMITH

.LONG TERM...SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...MODELS IN GOOD
AGREEMENT ON MONDAY...AND THEN BEGIN TO DIVERGE FOR TUESDAY THROUGH
THURSDAY.  ON MONDAY...A SHORT WAVE RIDGE WILL BE OVER THE AREA FOR
DRY CONDITIONS AND MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES.  THEN ON TUESDAY AN UPPER
TROUGH IN THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL BEGIN TO MOVE SOUTHEAST.  00Z GFS
BRINGS THIS TROUGH FURTHEST SOUTH OVER NE WASHINGTON WHERE AS GFS
ENSEMBLE MEAN/ECMWF/CANADIAN/UKMET MODELS KEEP MOST OF THE MOISTURE
AND DYNAMICS FROM THIS TROUGH ACROSS CANADA.  THIS IS MORE OF A
FAVORED CLIMATOLOGICAL SOLUTION AS WELL...SO WILL GO WITH DRY
FORECAST THROUGH THE PERIOD.  THE ONLY EXCEPTION WILL BE SLIGHT
CHANCE POPS TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NEAR THE WASHINGTON CASCADE CREST
AND THE BLUE/WALLOWA MOUNTAINS SINCE THEY WILL BE IN CLOSEST
PROXIMITY TO THE UPPER TROUGH.  TEMPERATURES WILL BE CLOSE TO NORMAL
THROUGH THE PERIOD.  WOLF

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
PENDLETON (AIRPORT) 60 89 60 85 / 10 05 00 10
WALLA WALLA         64 89 64 86 / 10 05 00 10
TRI-CITIES          60 91 60 88 / 05 05 00 05
YAKIMA              58 87 58 85 / 05 05 00 05
&&

.PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...NONE.
WA...NONE.
&&

85

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 1, 7:35 AM PST, 9 hours 25 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OREGON
835 AM PDT THU JUL 1 2004

ORZ041>050-WAZ024>030-021200-
NORTH CENTRAL OREGON-CENTRAL OREGON-LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN (OR)-
FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS (OR)-BLUE MOUNTAINS-JOHN DAY BASIN-
OCHOCO-JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS-GRANDE RONDE VALLEY-WALLOWA COUNTY-
EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE (WA)-
EAST SLOPES OF THE SOUTHERN CASCADES-KITTITAS VALLEY-YAKIMA VALLEY-
LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN (WA)-FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS (WA)-
NORTHWEST BLUE MOUNTAINS-
835 AM PDT THU JUL 1 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON
AS WELL AS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THUNDERSTORMS
     NORTHWEST BLUE MOUNTAINS, NORTH CENTRAL OREGON, CENTRAL OREGON,
     BLUE MOUNTAINS, JOHN DAY BASIN, OCHOCO-JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS,
     GRANDE RONDE VALLEY, WALLOWA COUNTY

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL REDEVELOP TODAY AND THIS
EVENING OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN OREGON.
THE AREAL COVERAGE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE LESS THAN
WHAT HAS BEEN OBSERVED THE PAST COUPLE OF DAYS. THE MAIN THREAT FROM
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE HEAVY RAIN AND SMALL HAIL. A FEW THUNDERSTORMS
MAY ALSO PRODUCE HAIL UP TO 3/4 OF AN INCH. SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS WILL TAPER OFF AFTER SUNSET.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

THUNDERSTORMS FRIDAY
          NORTHWEST BLUE MOUNTAINS, BLUE MOUNTAINS, JOHN DAY BASIN,
          OCHOCO-JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS, GRANDE RONDE VALLEY, WALLOWA
          COUNTY

THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY
          FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS (WA), NORTHWEST BLUE
          MOUNTAINS, NORTH CENTRAL OREGON, CENTRAL OREGON, FOOTHILLS
          OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS (OR), BLUE MOUNTAINS, JOHN DAY BASIN,
          OCHOCO-JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS, GRANDE RONDE VALLEY, WALLOWA
          COUNTY

THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY
          NORTHWEST BLUE MOUNTAINS, FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS
          (OR), BLUE MOUNTAINS, JOHN DAY BASIN, OCHOCO-JOHN DAY
          HIGHLANDS, GRANDE RONDE VALLEY, WALLOWA COUNTY

THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY
          NORTHWEST BLUE MOUNTAINS, BLUE MOUNTAINS, OCHOCO-JOHN DAY
          HIGHLANDS, GRANDE RONDE VALLEY, WALLOWA COUNTY

THUNDERSTORMS TUESDAY
          NORTHWEST BLUE MOUNTAINS, BLUE MOUNTAINS, GRANDE RONDE
          VALLEY, WALLOWA COUNTY

UNSETTLED WEATHER WILL CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK AS A TROUGH
OF LOW PRESSURE REMAINS OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.  ISOLATED TO
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH THE
HOLIDAY WEEKEND...MAINLY OVER THE MOUNTAINS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

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, Kittitas Valley

When: July 1, 5:00 PM PST to July 2, 5:00 AM PST
Where: Kittitas Valley forecast zone
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 46.791, -120.709 (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 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, July 2004

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: 5414414.