Wildfire, Okanogan Valley
- When
- August 13, 12:00 AM PST to August 18, 5:00 PM PST
- Where
- Okanogan Valley forecast zone
- Reported by
- Other Federal Agency
- Coordinates
- 48.143, -119.716 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Washington, August 13 to 18, 2008
The Malott Fire, centered two miles northwest of Malott, was a lightning caused fire that burned 333 acres.
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
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 OTX wrote it up.
The Malott Fire, centered two miles northwest of Malott, was a lightning caused fire that burned 333 acres.
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, 9:51 PM PST, 2 hours 9 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 12, 9:51 PM PST, 2 hours 9 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 1051 PM PDT TUE AUG 12 2008 ...UPDATED AVIATION DISCO... .SYNOPSIS... A WEAK PACIFIC FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA TONIGHT BRINGING CLOUDS AS WELL AS BREEZY CASCADE WINDS. STRONG HIGH PRESSURE WILL THEN BRING DRY CONDITIONS AND RAPIDLY WARMING TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. && .DISCUSSION... TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...SATELLITE INDICATES THE WEAK UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OVER THE REGION IS ABOUT TO BE FLATTENED BY AN INCOMING PACIFIC WAVE. HOWEVER...NAM AND GFS ARE SIMILAR IN PREDICTING THIS WAVE TO DRAMATICALLY WEAKEN AS IT MOVES THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA OVERNIGHT...AND THIS SOLUTION IS PLAUSIBLE GIVEN THE DEEPENING NATURE OF THE BROAD GULF OF ALASKA TROUGH WHICH WILL HELP DIRECT TONIGHTS MINOR WAVE NORTH OF THE REGION. STILL...THERE IS OBVIOUSLY PLENTY OF MID AND UPPER LEVEL MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THE INCOMING WAVE. THUS FORECAST WILL INCLUDE PLENTY OF CIRRUS AND ALTOCUMULUS TONIGHT BUT NO PRECIPITATION BEYOND SPRINKLES OVER THE HIGH TERRAIN OF THE NORTH CASCADES. FOR WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THE DEEPENING GULF OF ALASKA LOW WILL PROMOTE A STRONG RIDGE BUILDING OVER THE NORTHWEST USA. INITIALLY...ON WEDNESDAY...ONLY DECREASING CLOUDS AND HIGH TEMPERATURE RECOVERIES TO AROUND TODAYS VALUES...THEN THE RIDGE PUMPS UP IN EARNEST FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY WITH DRAMATIC WARMING AND DRYING EXPECTED THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WORK WEEK WITH MAINLY CLEAR SKIES. ON FRIDAY...THE GFS MODEL SUGGEST A TIGHT BUT RATHER ROBUST UPPER LEVEL WAVE BRUSHING THE FORECAST AREA. ECMWF MODEL HINTS AT A WEAKER WAVE IN THE SAME LOCATION/TRAJECTORY. GFS DISPLAYS POOR RUN-TO-RUN CONSISTENCY WITH THIS FEATURE WITH ENSEMBLE MEMBER SPREAD SUGGESTING THIS SOLUTION HAS NOT SOLIDIFIED YET. THUS WILL BET ON ECMWF SOLUTION WHICH SUGGEST FURTHER HEATING ON FRIDAY WITH NO SIGNIFICANT WEATHER. IN ANY EVENT...THIS WAVE APPEARS TO BE RATHER DRY AND PROBABLY WONT HAVE ANY EFFECT ON CLOUD OR PRECIPITATION CHANCES EVEN IF THE STRONGER GFS VERIFIES. /FUGAZZI FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...THE SHORTWAVE THAT UNDERCUTS THE RIDGE WILL EXIT INTO SOUTHERN CANADA FRIDAY NIGHT. THE RIDGE WILL ONCE AGAIN STRENGTHEN OVER THE PAC NW. BOTH THE GFS AND ECMWF SHOW VERY DRY CONDITIONS THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY. HAVE TAKEN OUT THE LITTLE AREA OF THUNDER IN THE CASCADES FOR SATURDAY DUE TO THE DRYNESS AND LACK OF FORCING FOR THUNDER DEVELOPMENT. SUNDAY HOWEVER SOME MOISTURE STREAMS UP FROM 700 TO 500 MB LAYER ACROSS THE BLUES AND CAMAS PRAIRIE AREA. HAVE INCREASED CLOUD COVER AS WELL AS INTRODUCED A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDER FROM PULLMAN SOUTH TO THE BLUE MOUNTAINS AND CAMAS PRAIRIE. MONDAY AND TUESDAY HAVE KEPT WITH THE TREND OF COOLING TEMPERATURES SLIGHTLY AS THE RIDGE GETS PUSHED EAST AND A TROUGH OF SOME KIND APPROACHES BRITISH COLUMBIA. TEMPERATURES WILL PEAK ON SATURDAY AT ABOUT 10-14 DEGREES ABOVE AVERAGE...AND THEN START A SLIGHT COOLING TREND THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE LONG TERM FORECAST...HOWEVER TEMPS WILL REMAIN ABOVE AVERAGE FOR THIS TIME OF THE YEAR. /NISBET && .AVIATION... MID/HIGH CLOUD CEILINGS CURRENTLY OVER THE REGION ACCOMPANYING A QUICK-MOVING SHORT-WAVE TROF WILL EXIT THE AREA LATE TONIGHT...WITH CLEARING SKIES RAPIDLY OVERTAKING ALL TERMINALS. EXPECT VFR WX THROUGH AT LEAST 06Z THURS. CASCADE VALLEY GAP WINDS WILL SLOWLY DECREASE OVERNIGHT...WHICH INCLUDES KEAT. BZ && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... SPOKANE 59 85 59 91 62 93 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 COEUR DALENE 55 83 54 90 56 90 / 0 10 0 0 0 0 PULLMAN 50 84 50 90 54 92 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 LEWISTON 64 92 62 97 65 99 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 COLVILLE 49 87 49 93 51 93 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 SANDPOINT 48 82 47 89 49 88 / 0 10 0 0 0 0 KELLOGG 52 82 57 89 59 89 / 0 10 0 0 0 0 MOSES LAKE 59 89 57 96 60 99 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 WENATCHEE 64 90 64 95 64 99 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 OMAK 57 91 58 95 59 97 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...NONE. WA...NONE. &&
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 12, 5:09 AM PST, 18 hours 51 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 609 AM PDT TUE AUG 12 2008 IDZ001>004-026-027-WAZ031>038-041>044-131315- NORTHERN PANHANDLE-COEUR DALENE AREA-IDAHO PALOUSE- CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS-LEWISTON AREA- LEWIS AND SOUTHERN NEZ PERCE COUNTIES-NORTHEAST BLUE MOUNTAINS- LOWER GARFIELD AND ASOTIN COUNTIES-WASHINGTON PALOUSE- MOSES LAKE AREA-UPPER COLUMBIA BASIN-SPOKANE AREA- NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS-OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS-WENATCHEE AREA- EAST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES-OKANOGAN VALLEY-WATERVILLE PLATEAU- 609 AM PDT TUE AUG 12 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH IDAHO... NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO...CENTRAL WASHINGTON...EAST CENTRAL WASHINGTON...NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON...NORTHEAST WASHINGTON AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Florida, August 13, 2008
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Arizona, August 13 to 14, 2008
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, August 13, 2008
- Hail in Iowa, August 13, 2008
- Flash Flooding and Hail in West Virginia, August 13, 2008
- Hail and Lightning Strike in Pennsylvania, August 13, 2008
- Lightning Strike in Illinois, August 13, 2008
- Damaging Winds in Georgia, August 13, 2008
- Tornado in Colorado, August 13, 2008
- Tornado and Hail in Nebraska, August 13, 2008
- Damaging Winds in Florida, August 13, 2008
- Lightning Strike in New Mexico, August 13, 2008
More
Every storm in Washington in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, August 2008
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: 131399.