Wildfire in Idaho, September 4 to 14, 2005

Name: Wildfire in Idaho, September 4 to 14, 2005
Start: 2005-09-04T04:00
End: 2005-09-14T12:00
Location: Idaho

September 4 to 14, 2005 · NWS PIH · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The Valley Road fire southeast of Stanley burned nearly 30,000 acres by September 9th. On September 9th, the communities of Sunbeam and the Morman Bend and Slate Creek areas were evacuated.

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 happened

The episode as NWS PIH wrote it up.

The Valley Road fire southeast of Stanley burned nearly 30,000 acres by September 9th. On September 9th, the communities of Sunbeam and the Morman Bend and Slate Creek areas were evacuated. Highway 75 between Stanley and Clayton was closed as well. A cold front with rain, snow and much higher relative humidities slowed the fire by September 10th with no more spread.

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 Pocatello, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 4, 2:37 AM MST, 1 hour 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 4, 2:37 AM MST, 1 hour 23 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO IDAHO
337 AM MDT SUN SEP 4 2005

.DISCUSSION...RADAR SHOWS LINGERING SHOWERS AND ISOLATED
THUNDERSTORMS MOVING TOWARDS WYOMING BORDER IN ASSOCIATION WITH
SHORTWAVE EAST OF AREA.  TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE OF THE WEST COAST IS
MOVING INLAND NOW AND MID LEVEL MOISTURE IS CREEPING INTO CENTRAL
MOUNTAINS.

SINCE SURFACE FRONTAL BOUNDARY IS NEARLY STATIONARY...WARMED TEMPS
UP FOR MOST AREAS TODAY.  WITH LOW RH AND INCREASING WINDS...RED
FLAG CONDITIONS ONCE AGAIN PREVAIL.

ENERGY WITH THE LOW PRESSURE WILL CREATE SOME ISOLATED...MAINLY DRY
THUNDERSTORMS IN CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND IN UPPER SNAKE HIGHLANDS THIS
AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING TIME FRAME.  AS TROUGH MOVES EASTWARD
OVERNIGHT...ONLY MARGINAL COOLING AND COLD FRONT REALLY NEVER
SETTLES TO DEEP INTO OUR AREA.  DRY CONDITIONS FOR MONDAY/TUESDAY AS
UPPER FLOW BECOMES SOUTHWEST.

PRESTON

5H TROF WILL AMPLIFY ALONG THE WEST COAST ON WED. AHEAD OF THIS
FEATURE DEEP SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL DEVELOP ACROSS ID. MODELS PAINT
SOME INSTABILITY ALONG WITH INCREASING MID/HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE
ACROSS AREA SO HAVE MENTIONED POPS ACROSS MTNS WED NIGHT INTO THU.
STILL UNCERTAIN IF THIS TROF WILL SPLIT ACROSS AREA BUT LATEST GFS
SUGGEST THAT SOUTHERN PIECE OF TROF WILL SLIDE ACROSS AREA THU AND
THEN SECOND SPOKE OF (NORTHERN STREAM) ENERGY WILL SLIDE SE INTO
REGION FOR THU NIGHT/EARLY FRIDAY. S/WV RIDGE WILL TRACK ACROSS AREA
FOR SATURDAY. APPEARS MODELS STARTING A FAST PROGRESSION OF MORE
WINTER TYPE WAVES IN THE EXTENDED.

WINTHER

&&

.AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS.  MID AND HIGH LEVEL SCT TO BKN CLOUDS
(15KFT-25KFT MSL) WILL CONTINUE TODAY WITH ISOLATED TO SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS OVER TWEB ROUTES 340 AND 343...REST OF THE ROUTES WILL
REMAIN PRECIPITATION FREE.  WINDS WILL BE ERRATIC AND GUSTY
NEAR/AROUND THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

&&

.PIH WATCHES/WARNING/ADVISORIES...RED FLAG WARNING FOR LOW RELATIVE
HUMIDITY AND GUSTY WINDS IN SOUTHEAST IDAHO FIRE WEATHER ZONES
405...406...407...409...410...411...412...AND 413 FROM NOON TODAY
THROUGH 9PM MDT SUNDAY NIGHT.  SEE LATEST BULLETIN FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION.

&&

WEATHER INFORMATION ON-LINE 24-HOURS A DAY
(ALL LOWER-CASE LETTERS)

WWW.WEATHER.GOV/POCATELLO

Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 4, 3:45 AM MST, 15 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
445 AM MDT SUN 4 2005

IDZ017>025-031-032-051200-
LOST RIVER/PASHIMEROI-CACHE VALLEY/IDAHO PORTION-
SOUTH CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-WASATCH MOUNTAINS/IDAHO PORTION-
LOWER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN-SAWTOOTH MOUNTAINS-EASTERN MAGIC VALLEY-
BIG AND LITTLE WOOD RIVER REGION-UPPER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN-
CARIBOU HIGHLANDS-UPPER SNAKE HIGHLANDS-
445 AM MDT SUN SEP 4 2005

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN IDAHO

.DAY ONE...
A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE OFF THE WEST COAST AND AN UPPER LEVEL
WEATHER DISTURBANCE WILL COMBINE TO PRODUCE ISOLATED MAINLY DRY
THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE REGION TODAY.  GUSTY WINDS TO 45 MPH ARE
EXPECTED NEAR STORMS.  THE PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL ALSO STRENGTHEN
WILL PRODUCE GUSTY WIND CONDITIONS BY THIS AFTERNOON OVER 25 MPH.
THE WIND...COMBINED WITH LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES HAS PROMPTED THE
ISSUANCE OF A RED FLAG WARNING...REFER TO THE LATEST BULLETIN FOR
ADDITIONAL DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...
ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM IS SLATED FOR THE AREA LATE WEDNESDAY INTO
THURSDAY WITH A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS...AND POSSIBLY MUCH COOLER
TEMPERATURES BY THURSDAY.  SNOW MAY FALL ABOVE 7000 FEET WITH THE
PASSAGE OF THIS STORM.  OUTDOOR ENTHUSIASTS SHOULD LISTEN TO NOAA
WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER UPDATES ON THE COLD AIR
POTENTIAL OF THIS STORM.

SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
WE ASK ALL TRAINED SPOTTERS TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS.
THIS WOULD INCLUDE ALL HAIL...WIND...HEAVY RAIN AND FLOODING REPORTS.
THIS INFORMATION SHOULD BE CALLED INTO THE LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE OFFICE IN POCATELLO USING THE 1-800 SEVERE WEATHER HOTLINE...
OR OTHER STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 3, 10:13 PM MST, 5 hours 47 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO/IDAHO FALLS ID
1113 PM MDT SAT SEP 03 2005

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1050 PM     TSTM WND GST     POCATELLO               42.88N 112.47W
09/03/2005  50 MPH           BANNOCK            ID   NWS EMPLOYEE

            THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS ESTIMATED 40 TO 50 MPH. SMALL
            TWIGS AND TREE BRANCHES DOWN.

&&

RSURVICK

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Sawtooth Mountains

When: September 4, 4:00 AM MST to September 14, 12:00 PM MST
Where: Sawtooth Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL

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 Idaho in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Idaho, September 2005

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: 5479043.