A wildfire burned 408 acres just east of Tonasket, Washington. The fire which burned through sagebrush and scattered ponderosa pine briefly threatened thirteen homes and burned one outbuilding.
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The episode as NWS OTX wrote it up.
A wildfire burned 408 acres just east of Tonasket, Washington. The fire which burned through sagebrush and scattered ponderosa pine briefly threatened thirteen homes and burned one outbuilding.
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 9, 3:30 AM PST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 430 AM PDT TUE AUG 9 2011 .SYNOPSIS... TODAY WILL BE THE LAST IN THE SERIES OF DRY FORECASTS AND DAYS WITH NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT THAT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WEDNESDAY AND BRING A RISK FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO. GUSTY WINDS WILL ALSO BE LIKELY WITH THIS FRONTAL PASSAGE WEDNESDAY. ALSO...BY THE END OF NEXT WEEK AN AMPLIFYING PATTERN IS FORECAST TO LEAD TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES. && .DISCUSSION... TODAY AND TONIGHT...TODAY WILL BE THE LAST IN THE SERIES OF DRY FCSTS AND TEMPS NEAR NORMAL AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT THAT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE PAC NW WED. FOLLOWING BRIEF SHORT-WAVE RIDING AND RISING HTS/WARMING TEMPS ALOFT THROUGH EARLY EVENING...LARGE- SCALE ASCENT WILL INCREASE RAPIDLY AHEAD OF THE VORT MAX THAT REACHES WRN WA OVERNIGHT. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGE WILL BE DETERMINING THE TRACK AND PATH THIS VORT MAX WILL TAKE...WITH EVEN A SMALL DEVIATION IN THE ANTICIPATED TRACK HAVING HUGE IMPLICATIONS AS FAR AS WHERE THE HIGHEST THREAT OF SHOWERS WILL BE (SEE THE WEDNESDAY THROUGH TUESDAY DISCUSSION BELOW). AT LEAST FOR NOW...WE'VE ONLY INTRODUCED ISOLATED SHOWERS LATE TONIGHT FOR THE EAST SLOPES OF THE CASCADES GENERALLY N OF LAKE CHELAN. THOUGH CROSS- CASCADE PRESSURE GRADIENTS WILL STRENGTHEN THIS EVENING...PRODUCING SOME GUSTY WEST WINDS...THE WINDS ON WED WILL BE MORE SIGNIFICANT. BZ WEDNESDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...THE MAIN FOCUS DURING THE PERIOD WILL BE ON A COLD FRONT PASSAGE WEDNESDAY BRINGING THE THREAT FOR THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE NORTH AND BREEZY WINDS ELSEWHERE. FOLLOWING WEDNESDAY'S FEATURE...A SUBTLE WARMING TREND IS EXPECTED UNDER CONTINUED DRY CONDITIONS. BY THE START OF NEXT WEEK...WE WILL BE MONITORING THE FOUR CORNERS HIGH AND NORTHWARD EXTENT OF MONSOONAL MOISTURE MOVING AROUND THE HIGH PRESSURE CELL. WEDNESDAY WILL FEATURE THE MOST ACTIVE WEATHER OF THE WEEK AS THE UPPER-LEVEL SHORTWAVE TROUGH NOTED ON EVENING SATELLITE AT 50N/136W MOVES ACROSS NORTHERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO. FOR AUGUST'S STANDARDS...THIS IS A FAIRLY POTENT WAVE. HOWEVER...DUE TO THE RECENT DRY SPELL AND LACK OF ABOVE NORMAL HEATING AT THE SURFACE...THE MAIN THUNDER THREAT WILL FOCUS MAINLY NORTH OF HIGHWAY 2 WHERE WE FIND STRONGER MIDLEVEL FORCING AND BEST COOLING ALOFT. A NARROW RIBBON OF MOISTURE LOOKS TO ADVECT INTO THE REGION AHEAD OF THE WAVE...YIELDING A LAYER PRECIPITABLE WATER NEAR 0.75". CONSEQUENTLY... COMPUTED SURFACE BASED CAPE AND LI'S CLIMB ROUGHLY BETWEEN 400-500J/KG AND -2 TO -3 RESPECTIVELY...WITH PLENTY OF SUPPORT VIA THE LAST 4 RUNS OF THE SREF. AS A RESULT...THUNDER CHANCES WERE INCREASED TO CHANCE WITH MORE QPF ADDED INTO THE HIGHER TERRAIN. A DRY SLOT AND COOL ADVECTION WORKING AROUND THE BASE OF THE TROUGH LOOKS TO KEEP MOST POINTS SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 2 MOSTLY CLEAR AND DRY. WINDS WILL BE THE OTHER ISSUE OF THE AFTERNOON. SUSTAINED WINDS WILL BE THE BIGGEST THREAT FROM THE CASCADE GAPS...ACROSS THE WATERVILLE PLATEAU....OKANOGAN VALLEY...COLUMBIA BASIN...AND INTO THE PALOUSE AND WEST PLAINS. AS THE SURFACE LOW CROSSES INTO LOWER ALBERTA AND COOLER...MARITIME AIR GETS SHOVED INTO THE CASCADES...CROSS CWA GRADIENTS WILL INCREASE NEAR 8-9 MB LEADING TO SUSTAINED WINDS OF 8 TO 18 MPH WITH GUSTS GENERALLY 20-30 MPH. WHILE THESE ARE NOT TYPICALLY CONSIDERED STRONG WINDS...THIS COULD ELEVATE THE THREAT FOR FIRE SPREAD IF ANY FINE FUELS WERE TO IGNITE...AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO COVER THE SITUATION WITH THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK AND FIRE WEATHER FORECAST. ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGING LOCATIONS WILL BE THE WIND SWITCH OCCURRING WITHIN THE OKANOGAN VALLEY WHERE BREEZY SOUTH WINDS WILL BECOME BREEZY OUT OF THE NORTH FOLLOWING THE FRONTAL PASSAGE. ON THURSDAY...LINGERING INSTABILITY OVER THE EXTREME NORTHEASTERN ZONES OF WA/ID WILL KEEP A SLIM THREAT FOR THUNDER INTO THE AFTERNOON. CHANCES MAY BE HIGHER IF THESE LOCATIONS RECEIVE ANY APPRECIABLE MOISTURE ON WEDNESDAY FOR THE UPPER-LEVELS WILL LACK ANY FORCING AND GENERALLY BE ON A SLOW STABILIZING TREND. AS WE GO INTO FRIDAY AND THE WEEKEND...THIS STABILIZING TREND WILL CONTINUE LEADING TO A SLOW WARMING EACH DAY UNDER PLENTY OF BLUE SKIES. THE FOUR CORNERS HIGH WILL SLOWLY BECOME ESTABLISHED BY THE START OF THE WEEK AND WE WILL BEGIN TO MONITOR THE TRAJECTORY OF MONSOONAL MOISTURE. SOME MODELS ARE SUGGESTING THE MOISTURE WILL REACH SOUTHEASTERN WA AND CENTRAL IDAHO BY AS EARLY AS SUNDAY NIGHT...HOWEVER THESE MODELS TYPICALLY HAVE A BIAS OF DRAWING THE MOISTURE TOO FAR NORTH...TO QUICK...SO WILL CONTINUE TO CARRY A DRY FORECAST UNTIL CONFIDENCE IS HIGHER. TEMPERATURES WILL BE COOLING BELOW NORMAL FOR WEDNESDAY WITH A SLOW WARMING TREND ANTICIPATED EACH DAY AFTER. WE ARE LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE ABOVE NORMAL WARMTH BY THE WEEKEND. /SB && .AVIATION... 12Z TAFS...VFR CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE WITH GENERALLY CLEAR SKIES AND LIGHT DIURNAL/TERRAIN-DRIVEN WINDS THE NEXT 24 HOURS. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE AT KEAT WITH THEIR TYPICAL EARLY EVENING WSHFT TO THE NW AT 10-13KT...WITH A FEW GUSTS POSSIBLE BY TUESDAY EVENING. THE WINDS WILL INCREASE FURTHER FOR ALL SITES...ESPECIALLY KEAT...DURING THE DAY ON WED. BZ && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... SPOKANE 86 56 80 55 81 54 / 0 0 10 10 0 0 COEUR D'ALENE 85 53 77 52 80 51 / 0 0 10 10 10 10 PULLMAN 85 48 78 46 79 47 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 LEWISTON 92 58 87 56 87 57 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 COLVILLE 93 52 83 49 86 50 / 0 10 30 30 10 10 SANDPOINT 84 46 77 45 78 44 / 0 0 20 20 10 10 KELLOGG 83 49 76 48 77 49 / 0 0 10 10 10 10 MOSES LAKE 90 54 86 53 87 53 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 WENATCHEE 89 61 83 58 85 57 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 OMAK 92 54 85 53 87 53 / 0 10 20 20 10 10 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...NONE. WA...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 545 AM PDT TUE AUG 9 2011 IDZ001-WAZ034-037-038-041>044-101245- NORTHERN PANHANDLE-MOSES LAKE AREA-NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS- OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS-WENATCHEE AREA-EAST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES- OKANOGAN VALLEY-WATERVILLE PLATEAU- 545 AM PDT TUE AUG 9 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH IDAHO... CENTRAL WASHINGTON...EAST CENTRAL WASHINGTON...NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON AND NORTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ON WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING OVER THE MOUNTAINS NEAR THE CANADIAN BORDER...IN THE TWISP...REPUBLIC...KETTLE FALLS...METALINE FALLS...AND BONNERS FERRY AREAS. CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING WITH THESE STORMS MAY INCREASE THE POTENTIAL FOR NEW WILDFIRE IGNITIONS. GUSTY WEST WINDS MAY HEIGHTEN THE POTENTIAL FOR RAPIDLY SPREADING GRASS FIRES WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND WEDNESDAY EVENING IN THE WENATCHEE...WATERVILLE...MANSFIELD...AND VANTAGE AREAS. SUSTAINED WINDS AROUND 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 35 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE. IDZ002>004-026-027-WAZ031>033-035-036-101245- COEUR D'ALENE AREA-IDAHO PALOUSE-CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS- LEWISTON AREA-LEWIS AND SOUTHERN NEZ PERCE COUNTIES- NORTHEAST BLUE MOUNTAINS-LOWER GARFIELD AND ASOTIN COUNTIES- WASHINGTON PALOUSE-UPPER COLUMBIA BASIN-SPOKANE AREA- 545 AM PDT TUE AUG 9 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH IDAHO... NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO...EAST 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 national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Marlys Road wildfire initiated near Hanging Rocks off Highway 20, roughly 20 miles east of Tonasket, and burned to Big Boulder Lane. The fire burned 408 acres along with one outbuilding.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, 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: 329997.