Name: Wildfire in Idaho, August 1 to 31, 2012
Start: 2012-08-01T00:01
End: 2012-08-31T23:59
Location: Idaho

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 PIH wrote it up.

The Halstead fire approximately 18 miles northwest of Stanley which began on July 27th grew to nearly 128,000 acres by the end of August. The following closures went into effect on August 3rd: all access points to the Cape Horn Area, all access to the Seafoam Bubble, all access to the Frank Church River of no Return Wilderness east of the Middle Fork Wild and Scenic Corridor, east of bluebunch ridge, and north of Lola Creek, National Forest lands north of Hwy 21 and 75 to Sunbeam and west of Yankee Fork Road to Loon Creek Guard Station. The Pinyon Peak Road was closed in its entirety. All of the campgrounds listed were closed: Beaver Creek, Lola Creek, Marsh Creek transfer, Josephus Lake, Bench, Banner, Park City, Elk Creek, Sheep Trail, Trap Creek, Vader Creek and Thatcher Creek. HIghway 75 was closed between Lower Stanley and Gardner Creek.

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 Pocatello, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 31, 7:32 PM MST, 4 hours 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 7:32 PM MST, 4 hours 29 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
832 PM MDT TUE JUL 31 2012

.DISCUSSION...TONIGHT THROUGH NEXT TUESDAY. QUICK UPDATE THIS
EVENING TO REMOVE THUNDERSTORMS AS ACTIVITY DIMINISHING RAPIDLY WITH
SETTING SUN. SEE PREVIOUS DISCUSSION BELOW. HUSTON

A WEAK SHORTWAVE MOVING THROUGH THE REGION HAS HELPED TO TRIGGER A
FEW THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHEAST IDAHO THIS AFTERNOON. A SLIGHT
CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND HIGHLANDS WILL
PERSIST INTO THURSDAY. EXPECT A COLD FRONT TO ARRIVE LATE THURSDAY
WHICH WILL BRING BREEZY CONDITIONS TO THE AREA FOR WEDNESDAY AND
THURSDAY. COOLER TEMPS WILL ARRIVE FOR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY BEHIND
THE FRONT. WARMER WEATHER WILL ARRIVE FOR SUNDAY AND EARLY NEXT WEEK
AS THE RIDGE BUILDS BACK INTO THE AREA ONCE AGAIN. AS THE RIDGE
BUILDS IN...EXPECT MONSOONAL MOISTURE TO WORK BACK INTO THE REGION
WHICH WILL BRING A THREAT FOR THUNDERSTORMS INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK.
VALLE
&&

.AVIATION...MOUNTAIN SHOWERS AND STORMS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THIS
EVENING ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST CORNER. DRIER AIR MOVES IN
TOMORROW BUT STILL ENOUGH EXISTS FOR ISOLATED MOUNTAIN STORMS ONCE
AGAIN. BRIEF DOWNPOURS AND GUSTY WINDS ARE THE MAIN THREATS. WINDS
WILL PICK UP TOMORROW AREA WIDE WITH THE VALLEY TAF SITES SEEING THE
MOST INFLUENCE. SUSTAINED WINDS OF 15-20KTS ARE FORECAST FOR KIDA
AND KPIH BY AFTERNOON. KEYES
&&

.FIRE WEATHER...MONSOON MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT THE
SOUTHEAST CORNER FOR A FEW MORE HOURS WHERE SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE A THREAT WITH LIGHTNING AND GUSTY OUTFLOW
WINDS. THE RED FLAG WARNING IN ZONE 413 REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH
9PM. DRIER AIR MOVES INTO THE AREA FOR WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY.
ISOLATED MOUNTAIN STORMS ARE STILL POSSIBLE BUT THE PROBABILITY WILL
BE AT OR LESS THAN 15 PERCENT. GUSTY WINDS ARE ALSO EXPECTED BOTH
DAYS WITH WINDS STRONGEST ON THURSDAY. GUSTS OF 20-30 MPH ARE
FORECAST FOR WEDNESDAY BUT AFTERNOON HUMIDITIES WILL BE LOW. FOR
NOW...WITH THE WINDS BEING MARGINAL WE WILL NOT ISSUE A WATCH OR
WARNING FOR ANY PART OF EASTERN IDAHO TOMORROW. FOR
THURSDAY...HUMIDITIES WILL COME UP A COUPLE OF PERCENT BUT STILL BE
LOW. WINDS INCREASE WITH GUSTS OF 25-35MPH POSSIBLE OVER PORTIONS OF
THE SNAKE PLAIN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS. WE WILL BE ISSUING A FIRE
WEATHER WATCH FOR ALL OF ZONE 410...475 AND ZONE 476 BELOW 6000 FEET
FOR THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITY. KEYES
&&

.PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FIRE WEATHER WATCH FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING
IDZ410 AND IDZ475-476.
&&

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 31, 1:26 PM MST, 10 hours 35 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE POCATELLO ID
226 PM MDT TUE JUL 31 2012

IDZ017>025-031-032-011645-
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-
226 PM MDT TUE JUL 31 2012

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN IDAHO.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING...WITH WIDELY SCATTERED TO SCATTERED ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST
CORNER OF THE AREA THROUGH 9PM. A RED FLAG WARNING IS IN EFFECT
FROM 2PM TO 9PM FOR FIRE WEATHER ZONE 413 DUE TO EXPECTED
THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE AND GUSTY OUTFLOW WINDS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

ISOLATED MOUNTAIN SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH
FRIDAY. A SYSTEM CROSS ACROSS THE NORTHERN STATES WILL HELP KICK
UP WINDS ACROSS THE AREA. WIND GUSTS OF 25-35 MPH ARE POSSIBLE ON
THURSDAY ACROSS PORTIONS OF EASTERN IDAHO WHERE A FIRE WEATHER WATCH
IS IN EFFECT. WITH LOW AFTERNOON HUMIDITIES...WE MAY APPROACH RED
FLAG CONDITIONS FOR SOME AREAS ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE SNAKE PLAIN.

.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.

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Sawtooth Mountains

When: August 1, 12:01 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Sawtooth Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: Park/Forest Service

The Halstead fire approximately 18 miles northwest of Stanley which began on July 27th grew to nearly 128,000 acres by the end of August. The following closures went into effect on August 3rd: all access points to the Cape Horn Area, all access to the Seafoam Bubble, all access to the Frank Church River of no Return Wilderness east of the Middle Fork Wild and Scenic Corridor, east of bluebunch ridge, and north of Lola Creek, National Forest lands north of Hwy 21 and 75 to Sunbeam and west of Yankee Fork Road to Loon Creek Guard Station. The Pinyon Peak Road was closed in its entirety. All of the campgrounds listed were closed: Beaver Creek, Lola Creek, Marsh Creek transfer, Josephus Lake, Bench, Banner, Park City, Elk Creek, Sheep Trail, Trap Creek, Vader Creek and Thatcher Creek. HIghway 75 was closed between Lower Stanley and Gardner Creek.

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

More

Every storm in Idaho in 2012 Every state in 2012 This day in weather history Warnings in Idaho, August 2012

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: 411102.