Wildfire in Washington, September 10 to 13, 2010

Name: Wildfire in Washington, September 10 to 13, 2010
Start: 2010-09-10T14:00
End: 2010-09-13T17:00
Location: Washington

September 10 to 13, 2010 · NWS OTX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

The Baird Springs Fire, centered five miles northwest of Quincy, was a fire of unknown cause that burned 7,693 acres.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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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Floods
Wind
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Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 Baird Springs Fire, centered five miles northwest of Quincy, was a fire of unknown cause that burned 7,693 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 Sep 10, 1:32 PM PST, 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 10, 1:32 PM PST, 28 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA
232 PM PDT FRI SEP 10 2010

.SYNOPSIS...
A COUPLE WEAK WEATHER SYSTEMS WILL BRING A FEW SHOWERS TO THE
NORTHERN MOUNTAINS THROUGH SUNDAY. STRONGER HIGH PRESSURE WILL
THEN BRING A WARMING TREND NEXT WEEK AS HIGHS WARM TO ABOVE NORMAL
VALUES. ISOLATED MAINLY MOUNTAIN SHOWERS WILL BE POSSIBLE MUCH OF
THE WEEK.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT...SHORTWAVE RIDGING
OVER EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO WILL COME TO AN ABRUPT END
THIS EVENING. THE UPPER FLOW WILL THEN BECOME ZONAL AS AN UPPER
LOW TRANSLATES SLOWLY SOUTHWARD ALONG THE BC COAST. FAST MOVING
SHORTWAVES IN THE WESTERLY FLOW COULD SPARK SCATTERED SHOWERS FOR
THE HIGHER TERRAIN ACROSS E WA AND N ID.

CLOUDS WILL POSE A BIT OF A CHALLENGE AS FAR AS OVERNIGHT
TEMPERATURES...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE
FORECAST AREA. HAVE ADJUSTED LOW TEMPERATURES TO BE SLIGHTLY
WARMER AND CONTINUED WITH MENTION OF PATCHY FOG. LOOK FOR DAYTIME
TEMPERATURES ON SATURDAY TO BE AT LEAST A COUPLE OF DEGREES WARMER
THAN TODAY/S. /AC

SUNDAY THROUGH FRI...WE DIVIDED THE FCST INTO TWO TIME
CHUNKS...THE FIRST PART DEALS WITH THE NRN STREAM WAVE THAT TRACKS E
THROUGH SRN BC SUNDAY AND MON...AND THE SECOND PART FOCUSES ON THE
NEARLY STATIONARY LOW THAT SETS UP OFF THE PACIFIC NW COAST TUES
THROUGH FRI. GUIDANCE HAS NOT BEEN CONSISTENT AS FAR AS TIMING
THESE FEATURES...AND THE CONSENSUS AMONG MOST NWS OFFICES WAS TO
TREND TOWARDS A SLIGHTLY DRIER AND WARMER FCST. ONCE THE TAIL END
OF THE COLDFNT MOVES OUT OF THE NRN ZONES (AND THE SHOWERS) A
STEADY TREND TOWARDS UPPER RIDGING AND WARMING WILL COMMENCE TUES
THROUGH FRI. THOUGH PATTERN RECOGNITION TYPICALLY WOULD FAVOR A
DRY FCST WITH THIS SCENARIO...THERE ARE CLEAR INDICATIONS THAT THE
AFOREMENTIONED OFFSHORE TROF WILL EJECT A SERIES (THREE) OF WEAK
SHORT-WAVE TROFS/VORT MAXES INTO OREGON AND WA BEFORE THE TROF
NEARS THE COAST FRI. TO ACCOUNT FOR THESE MINOR WAVES WE KEPT A
SLIGHT CHANCE OF MOUNTAIN SHOWERS IN THE FCST MOST DAYS...WITH
SLOW WARMING OF TEMPS TO ABOVE NORMAL VALUES MUCH OF THE WEEK. BZ

&&

.AVIATION...
BROKEN CIGS AT 5KFT OVER KCOE SHOULD MIX OUT LATER THIS AFTERNOON.
OTHERWISE THE REMAINDER OF TAF SITES WILL ALSO BE VFR. SCT TO BKN
CIGS COULD DEVELOP WITH DAYTIME HEATING MAINLY OVER FAR E WA AS
WELL. CONFIDENCE IS LOW THAT MVFR CIGS WILL DEVELOP TOMORROW
MORNING AND HAVE ADDED SCT DECK INSTEAD OF BKN AROUND 015 FT FOR
KSFF AND KGEG. AC

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
SPOKANE        45  70  46  71  47  72 /  10   0  10  10  10  10
COEUR D'ALENE  45  68  44  72  46  72 /  10  10  10  10  10  10
PULLMAN        42  70  44  74  44  73 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
LEWISTON       49  76  48  80  52  81 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
COLVILLE       45  72  45  71  43  76 /  10  10  10  20  20  20
SANDPOINT      43  66  42  68  43  69 /  10  10  10  20  20  20
KELLOGG        43  63  42  66  45  66 /  10  10  10  10  10  10
MOSES LAKE     48  74  49  75  49  75 /   0   0  10   0   0   0
WENATCHEE      52  73  53  74  52  76 /   0   0   0  10   0   0
OMAK           47  74  47  71  46  75 /  10  10  10  10  10   0

&&

.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...NONE.
WA...NONE.
&&

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Wenatchee Area

When: September 10, 2:00 PM PST to September 13, 5:00 PM PST
Where: Wenatchee Area forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 47.802, -120.155 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wildfire, Waterville Plateau

When: September 10, 2:00 PM PST to September 13, 5:00 PM PST
Where: Waterville Plateau forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 47.471, -119.572 (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 2010 Every state in 2010 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, September 2010

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: 255452, 255453.