A lightning strike caused nearly 50,000 acres to be burned north of the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center facility. The fire mostly scorched sagebrush and grasslands and was contained with no radiological hazards or any structural damages.
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 lightning strike caused nearly 50,000 acres to be burned north of the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center facility. The fire mostly scorched sagebrush and grasslands and was contained with no radiological hazards or any structural damages. The fire began at about 1 pm on August 25th and was contained by August 28th.
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 25, 8:27 AM MST, 3 hours 33 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 927 AM MDT THU AUG 25 2011 .UPDATE... A SHORTWAVE TROUGH EMBEDDED IN SOUTHWEST FLOW IS MOVING NORTHEAST ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA THIS MORNING. THE BULK OF THE ASSOCIATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM HAVE MOVED INTO WYOMING AND MONTANA. ISOLATED SHOWERS AND STORMS BUBBLING UP ELSEWHERE WITH SURFACE HEATING AND EXPECT AT LEAST ISOLATED STORMS ACROSS THE BOARD THIS AFTERNOON WITH GREATER COVERAGE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND EASTERN HIGHLANDS. MORNING SOUNDINGS SHOWING A DRY SUB CLOUD LAYER SO LITTLE RAINFALL WITH MOST STORMS. GOING FORECAST IS IN GOOD SHAPE. TAL && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 339 AM MDT THU AUG 25 2011/ SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY. SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT CONTINUING TO PUSH MOISTURE INTO THE REGION TODAY. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS PERSISTED OVERNIGHT MAINLY IN THE SNAKE PLAIN AND EASTERN HIGHLANDS. EXPECT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THROUGHOUT THE DAY TODAY AND A RED FLAG WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR PARTS OF THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS. THE GENERAL MOIST SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW CONTINUES THROUGH SATURDAY AND KEPT IN CHANCES OF THUNDERSTORMS DAILY THROUGH THE SHORT TERM PERIOD AS MARGINAL INSTABILITY REMAINS IN PLACE ALONG WITH THE MOISTURE. HOT CONDITIONS WILL BE PRESENT THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH SEVERAL UPPER 90S HIGH TEMPERATURES EXPECTED THE NEXT TWO DAYS IN THE SNAKE RIVER PLAIN. GK LONG TERM...SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. GFS BREAKS DOWN THE UPPER RIDGE QUICKER THAN THE EUROPEAN BUT BOTH TRANSITION TO A TROF BY EARLY NEXT WEEK TO THE WEST. KEPT IN NEAR CLIMATOLOGICAL POPS IN THE LONG TERM AS TRENDS WILL MAKE IT TOUCH TO DETERMINE TIMING ESPECIALLY AS WE TRANSITION OUT OF THE UPPER RIDGE. TEMPERATURES WILL LIKELY DROP CLOSER TO SEASON NORMALS NEXT WEEK BUT MAY STILL BE SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL...BUT THE EXTREME HEAT WILL END. GK AVIATION...SCATTERED TSTMS ARE EXPECTED OVER THE MTNS TODAY...WITH ONLY ISOLD TSTMS IN THE VALLEY LOCATIONS. THE TAF SITES WILL REMAIN VFR AS THE TSTM CLD BASES WILL BE HIGH. BRIEF GUSTY WINDS ARE POSSIBLE WITH TSTMS. MOST OF THE ACTIVITY SHOULD BE EAST OF THE TAF SITES BY THIS EVE. HEDGES FIRE WEATHER...MONSOON MOISTURE IS FLOWING INTO IDAHO UP THE BACKSIDE OF AN UPPER RIDGE. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED OVER THE CENTRAL IDAHO MOUNTAINS AND THE EASTERN HIGHLANDS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. LIMITED RAINFALL IS EXPECTED WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS...ALONG WITH GUSTY WINDS. WITH FUELS REACHING CRITICAL STATUS IN THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS...A RED FLAG WARNING WILL BE IN EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR FWZ 475 AND 476. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ELSEWHERE. THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AGAIN ON FRI AND SAT...ALONG WITH WARM TEMPERATURES. HEDGES && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL MIDNIGHT MDT TONIGHT IDZ475-476. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID 432 AM MDT THU AUG 25 2011 IDZ017>025-031-032-261045- 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- 432 AM MDT THU AUG 25 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN IDAHO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT EXPECT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TODAY. A RED FLAG WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR ZONES 475 AND 476. SEE THE LATEST BOIRFWPIH FOR MORE INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE EACH DAY...ESPECIALLY ON FRIDAY ANS SATURDAY. COOLER WEATHER WILL MOVE IN NEXT WEEK. .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.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
734 AM MDT THU AUG 25 2011
IDZ019-020-023-251415-
JEFFERSON ID-BONNEVILLE ID-MADISON ID-FREMONT ID-
734 AM MDT THU AUG 25 2011
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN POCATELLO HAS ISSUED A
SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR...
SOUTHWESTERN FREMONT COUNTY IN EASTERN IDAHO
MADISON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST IDAHO
NORTH CENTRAL BONNEVILLE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST IDAHO
SOUTHEASTERN JEFFERSON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST IDAHO
UNTIL 815 AM MDT
AT 725 AM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR OSGOOD...OR ABOUT 8 MILES NORTHWEST OF
IDAHO FALLS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS
HAVE DEVELOPED IN THE IDAHO FALLS AREA AS WELL.
WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH MAY ACCOMPANY SOME OF THE STORMS ALONG WITH
CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING.
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
RIGBY...
THORNTON... ARCHER AND POPLAR...
PLANO...
REXBURG AND SUGAR CITY...
LAT...LON 4407 11171 4339 11138 4338 11197 4343 11208
4347 11228 4354 11234
TIME...MOT...LOC 1328Z 235DEG 27KT 4359 11214
TAL1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
A lightning strike caused nearly 50,000 acres to be burned north of the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center facility. The fire mostly scorched sagebrush and grasslands and was contained with no radiological hazards or any structural damages. The fire began at about 1 pm on August 25th and was contained by August 28th.
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: 344441.