A 1,750 acre fire began about 3 am on August 20th due to a lightning strike 4 miles southeast of American Falls. It threatened about 30 homes in the Garden Subdivision and owners evacuated but the fire was controlled and contained without damaging the homes.
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 PIH wrote it up.
A 1,750 acre fire began about 3 am on August 20th due to a lightning strike 4 miles southeast of American Falls. It threatened about 30 homes in the Garden Subdivision and owners evacuated but the fire was controlled and contained without damaging the homes.
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 Aug 19, 1:35 PM MST, 12 hours 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 235 PM MDT FRI AUG 19 2011 .SHORT TERM...THE PRESENCE OF THE TROUGH OVER NORTHERN CALIFORNIA APPEARS TO BE JUST ENOUGH TO KEEP MONSOON MOISTURE FROM SURGE NORTHWARD WITH STRONG VENGEANCE...RATHER A MORE LIMITED PUSH OF MOISTURE. WILL BE LOOKING FOR MID LEVEL CONVERGENCE AS A FOCUS FOR CONVECTION THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS...EVIDENT IN MODEL 700MB WIND FIELD. THE NAM12 FAVORS FORCING FOR ISOLATED CONVECTION MOSTLY THROUGH THE EASTERN MAGIC VALLEY AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS SATURDAY AND TOWARDS SUNDAY MORNING AND SUNDAY AFTERNOON MOSTLY FROM THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS TOWARDS MONIDA PASS. .LONG TERM...NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WERE MADE IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD. SOUTHEAST IDAHO REMAINS IN DRY AIR WITH THE MONSOON MOISTURE HELD TO THE SOUTH AND EAST FOR SEVERAL DAYS. MODELS STILL SHOW HINT OF A DISTURBANCE OFF THE PACIFIC AROUND THURSDAY. RS && .AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND DESPITE THE ARRIVAL OF SOME MOISTURE. ISOLATED STORMS ARE POSSIBLE OVER HIGHER ELEVATIONS THROUGH SUNDAY. KEYES && .FIRE WEATHER...LIMITED MONSOON MOISTURE WILL STREAM ACROSS EASTERN IDAHO THROUGH THE WEEKEND. ISOLATED STORMS ARE EXPECTED OVER HIGHER ELEVATIONS BOTH DAYS WITH THE MAJORITY OF THEM FALLING INTO THE DRY CATEGORY. AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS THAT STORM COVERAGE WILL BE LOW ENOUGH TO PREVENT RED FLAG CONDITIONS ACROSS THE MAGIC VALLEY AND SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS. OTHERWISE...LOW HUMIDITIES WILL CONTINUE ALTHOUGH THEY WILL BE SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN DAYS PAST. KEYES && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 323 AM MDT FRI AUG 19 2011 IDZ017>025-031-032-200930- EASTERN MAGIC VALLEY-SAWTOOTH MOUNTAINS-UPPER SNAKE HIGHLANDS- UPPER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN-LOWER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN- SOUTH CENTRAL HIGHLANDS-CARIBOU HIGHLANDS- CACHE VALLEY/IDAHO PORTION-WASATCH MOUNTAINS/IDAHO PORTION- BIG AND LITTLE WOOD RIVER REGION-LOST RIVER/PAHSIMEROI- 323 AM MDT FRI AUG 19 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN IDAHO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WE ASK TRAINED SPOTTERS AND CITIZENS TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS WHEN IT IS SAFE TO DO SO. THESE CONDITIONS MAY INCLUDE HAIL...TORNADOES...STRONG WIND...DUST STORMS...SNOWFALL... EXTREME COLD TEMPERATURES...FREEZING RAIN OR HEAVY RAIN...DENSE FOG...AND FLOODING OR ICE JAMS. INFORMATION ABOUT THESE HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS SHOULD BE CALLED INTO YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN POCATELLO USING THE 1-800 SEVERE WEATHER HOTLINE...OR 208-233-0834.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
A 1,750 acre fire began about 3 am on August 20th due to a lightning strike 4 miles southeast of American Falls. It threatened about 30 homes in the Garden Subdivision and owners evacuated but the fire was controlled and contained without damaging the homes.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, August 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: 588494.