The Wash fire was human caused about 8 miles NE of Heber-Overgaard on June 23rd. It burned a total of 1,955 acres and 151 people were employed to combat the fire.
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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.
The episode as NWS FGZ wrote it up.
The Wash fire was human caused about 8 miles NE of Heber-Overgaard on June 23rd. It burned a total of 1,955 acres and 151 people were employed to combat the fire. The fire transition to local unit occurred on 6/27/2011. Full containment was late on June 29th.
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 Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 22, 8:55 PM MST, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 855 PM MST WED JUN 22 2011 .SYNOPSIS...EXPECT CLEAR SKIES AND ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES THROUGH FRIDAY. OVER THE WEEKEND...HIGH PRESSURE WILL NUDGE EAST AS LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPS OVER THE NORTHWEST UNITED STATES. THE MAIN IMPACT WILL BE AN INCREASE IN SOUTHWESTERLY DAYTIME WINDS AND A SLIGHT DECREASE IN TEMPERATURES. && .DISCUSSION...DAYTIME TEMPERATURES SEVERAL DEGREES WARMER THAN NORMAL DEVELOPED ACROSS THE NORTHLAND TODAY...AND WILL CONTINUE INTO THURSDAY UNDER CLEAR SKIES. EXPECT A BIT OF AN INCREASE IN SOUTHWEST WINDS FOR THURSDAY. && .PREV DISCUSSION /330 PM MST/...THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...THE RIDGE WILL BEGIN TO TRANSITION TO THE EAST-SOUTHEAST OVER SOUTHERN SECTIONS OF THE STATE AS THE NEXT IN A SERIES OF PACIFIC LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS MOVE ON TO THE WEST COAST FRIDAY. THE ASSOCIATED TROUGH WILL AID IN INCREASING THE PRESSURE GRADIENT ACROSS NORTHERN ARIZONA...BRINGING BREEZY AFTERNOON CONDITIONS...AS WELL AS BRINGING HIGH TEMPERATURES DOWN A FEW DEGREES. BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM 15 TO 25 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS. SATURDAY AND SUNDAY...THE PRESSURE GRADIENT INCREASES ACROSS ARIZONA AS THE FIRST LOW AND TROUGH LIFTS OUT INTO SOUTHERN CANADA AND A SECOND LOW AND TROUGH DEVELOPS OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WITH THE TROUGH DEVELOPING SOUTHWARD INTO CALIFORNIA ON SATURDAY. WINDS WILL INCREASE DURING THIS TIME PERIOD WITH AFTERNOON SOUTHWEST WINDS FROM 20 TO 25 MPH AND GUSTS UP TO 35 MPH. BY LATE SUNDAY INTO EARLY MONDAY THE SECOND LOW AND TROUGH WILL HAVE LIFTED NORTHEAST AWAY FROM THE STATE. MONDAY - TUESDAY TIME PERIOD: THE SUBTROPICAL HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE IS FORECAST TO BEGIN BUILDING WESTWARD BACK INTO THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST WITH THE TROUGH PATTERN SETTING UP FARTHER WEST IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC. THIS COULD OPEN THE DOOR TO ALLOW SOME SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE NORTHWARD INTO THE REGION ON TUESDAY...HOWEVER IT MAY REMAIN DRY ENOUGH TO MAINLY PROMOTE LIGHTING FIRE STARTS RATHER THAN PROVIDING SUBSTANTIAL MOISTURE TO REDUCE THE FIRE DANGER. HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE FORECAST TO RUN NEAR NORMAL. SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL REMAIN BREEZY FOR MONDAY BEFORE THE PRESSURE GRADIENT RELAXES ACROSS THE REGION ON TUESDAY ALLOWING FOR LIGHTER WINDS. WEDNESDAY - THURSDAY TIME PERIOD OF NEXT WEEK: THE GFS INDICATES ANOTHER FAIRLY STRONG LOW AND TROUGH PATTERN TO DEVELOP AND MOVE ACROSS THE WESTERN STATES...POSSIBLY PUSHING DRIER AND BREEZY CONDITIONS BACK INTO ARIZONA. HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE FORECAST TO RUN NEAR NORMAL. && .AVIATION...FOR THE 06Z PACKAGE...MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES WITH VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD. SOUTHWEST WINDS 10-20 KTS WITH GUSTS 20-30 KTS CAN BE EXPECTED AFTER 17Z THURSDAY. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDMENTS. && .FIRE WEATHER...HIGH PRESSURE WILL SHIFT EAST OF ARIZONA ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY AS A BROAD LOW PRESSURE TROUGH DEVELOPS ACROSS THE WESTERN STATES. THIS WILL RESULT IN BREEZY SOUTHWEST WINDS ACROSS NORTHERN AZ ALONG WITH SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES. WINDS WILL BE CLOSE TO CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER THRESHOLDS BOTH THURSDAY AND FRIDAY WHILE VERY LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES CONTINUE. A FEW LOCATIONS ALONG THE MOGOLLON RIM AND LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY MAY SEE RED FLAG CONDITIONS...HOWEVER PRIMARILY WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BE 15 TO 20 MPH. SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY...LITTLE CHANGE IN THE WEATHER PATTERN IS EXPECTED. CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE EACH DAY AS DRY SOUTHWEST FLOW CONTINUES TO BRING BREEZY SOUTHWEST AFTERNOON WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES. && .FGZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && PUBLIC.....................KD/TC AVIATION/FIRE WX...........KD/DJO FOR NORTHERN ARIZONA WEATHER INFORMATION VISIT WEATHER.GOV/FLAGSTAFF.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Wash Fire burned about 1,955 acres 8 miles NE of Heber-Overgaard.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, June 2011
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: 318295.