The Butte wildfire started on 08/21/12. It was contained on 09/01/12.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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 MFR wrote it up.
The Butte wildfire started on 08/21/12. It was contained on 09/01/12.
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 Medford, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 31, 8:02 PM PST, 3 hours 58 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
902 PM PDT FRI AUG 31 2012
.UPDATE...
AN UPDATE WAS ISSUED IN THE LAST HOUR TO ADJUST SKY COVER A BIT.
PRIMARY EDITS WERE TO INCREASE COASTAL STRATUS AND COASTAL
MOUNTAIN FOG IN THE BROOKINGS AREA WHERE IT NEVER QUITE CLEARED
TODAY, ESPECIALLY ON THE SOUTH AND EAST END. ALSO ADDED SOME CLOUD
COVER OVER THE CASCADES AND SISKIYOUS, COOS AND WESTERN DOUGLAS
COUNTIES, AND EASTERN DOUGLAS COUNTY.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
A SPLITTING UPPER LEVEL TROUGH PUSHING TOWARD THE COASTLINE THIS
EVENING STIRRED UP WINDS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING OVER PORTIONS
OF THE AREA, COMBINING WITH VERY DRY AIR TO SQUEEZE YET MORE
MOISTURE OUT OF THE ALREADY DRY VEGETATION. AN ELEVATED MARINE
LAYER ALONG THE CURRY COAST WILL LINGER TONIGHT, AND EXPECT SOME
CLOUD FORMATION OVER COOS COUNTY, SOUTHWEST OF ROSEBURG, IN THE
EASTERN UMPQUA, AND OVER AND NEAR THE CASCADES AND SISKIYOUS. DRY
AIR PRECEDING THIS MAKES CONFIDENCE LOW FOR CLOUD COVER EAST OF
THE COAST RANGE.
ON THE INFRARED SATELLITE IMAGERY THIS EVENING THERE HAVE BEEN
SOME SIGNS OF MID AND UPPER LEVEL INSTABILITY ALONG AND SOUTHWEST
OF THE COAST. THE SPLITTING UPPER TROUGH APPEARS TOO DRY AND WEAK
TO STIR UP MORE THAN SOME TOWERING CUMULUS TOMORROW AFTERNOON,
WITH THE GREATEST POTENTIAL OF THIS OVER SOUTHERN LAKE COUNTY.
A WARMING TREND THIS NEXT WEEK IS ON TRACK. INSTABILITY POTENTIAL
LATER IN THE WEEK IS LOOKING LESS IMPRESSIVE THAN IT WAS A COUPLE
OF DAYS AGO.
&&
.AVIATION...
BASED ON 01/00Z TAF CYCLE.
VFR CONDITIONS AREA WIDE THIS EVENING EXCEPT FOR AROUND BROOKINGS
WHERE IFR STRATUS REMAINS IN PLACE. ONSHORE FLOW WILL LEAD TO THE
FORMATION OF STRATUS WITH IFR CIGS AND VIS ALONG THE NORTH COAST
AGAIN TONIGHT, PRIMARILY CAPE BLANCO NORTHWARD. STRATUS WITH IFR
CIGS WILL CONTINUE ALONG THE FAR SOUTH COAST THROUGH THE NIGHT AS
WELL. DON'T EXPECT THE STRATUS TO MAKE IT MUCH INLAND FROM THE COAST
EXCEPT IT WILL MOVE INTO THE WESTERN UMPQUA BUT PROBABLY NOT AS FAR
AS KRBG. ELSEWHERE, VFR CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT
AND SATURDAY. AREAS OF SMOKE OVER NORCAL AND EASTERN OREGON WILL
OCCASIONALLY REDUCE VISIBILITIES, BUT NOT LIKELY BELOW VFR. -WRIGHT
&&
.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 219 PM PDT FRI AUG 31 2012/
DISCUSSION...CURRENT VISIBLE IMAGE SHOWS CLEAR SKIES OVER MOST OF
THE FORECAST AREA. SOME LOW TOPPED CUMULUS HAS DEVELOPED ALONG THE
CASCADES NORTH OF CRATER LAKE AND JUST EAST OF MODOC COUNTY. DO NOT
EXPECT MUCH MORE FROM THESE AND SHOULD DISSIPATE THIS EVENING. THE
MARINE STRATUS CONTINUES TO LINGER NEAR BROOKING BUT IT'S SHOWING
SIGNS OF BURNING OFF. WE'LL SEE TEMPERATURES GET NEAR FREEZING LATE
TONIGHT IN MANY OF THE SAME LOCATIONS AS PREVIOUS NIGHTS...THEN THEY
ARE EXPECTED TO BE MILDER.
AN UPPER LEVEL TROF SWINGS THROUGH WASHINGTON STATE LATE TONIGHT.
THE MAIN EFFECT FROM THIS WILL BE SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES AND
THE MARINE RETURNING ALONG THE COAST. AT THIS POINT NOT EXPECTING IT
TO GET INTO THE UMPQUA BASIN...BUT THE NIGHT SHIFT MAY WANT TO TAKE
ANOTHER LOOK AT THIS. A THERMAL TROF WILL DEVELOP OFF THE OREGON
COAST TONIGHT WHICH WILL INCREASE THE OFFSHORE FLOW. THIS WILL BE OF
SOME CONCERN FOR FIRE WEATHER INTEREST OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN IN
WESTERN JOSEPHINE...EASTERN CURRY AND WESTERN SISKIYOU COUNTY. IT'S
HERE WERE WE COULD HAVE GUSTY BREEZES AND POOR RECOVERIES.
NOT MUCH CHANGE IN THE OVERALL WEATHER IS EXPECTED SUNDAY INTO MOST
OF NEXT WEEK. THE THERMAL TROF REMAINS ALONG THE OREGON COAST AND
WILL SHIFT INLAND DURING THE DAY. THIS WILL RESULT IN WARMER
TEMPERATURES WEST OF THE CASCADES WHERE WE COULD SEE READINGS GET
INTO THE LOWER TO MID 90S IN THE ROGUE VALLEY.
AS WE GET TOWARDS THE END OF THE WEEK...BOTH THE GFS AND EC SHOW A
WEAK UPPER LOW OFF THE OREGON COAST. RIGHT NOW IT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE
IT WILL BE UNSTABLE ENOUGH FOR ANY THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT...BUT
THIS WILL HAVE TO BE WATCHED DAY TO DAY. -PETRUCELLI
&&
.MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...FROST ADVISORY FROM 3 AM TO 8 AM PDT SATURDAY FOR ORZ030-031.
CA...NONE.
PZ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WINDS UNTIL 5 AM PDT WEDNESDAY FOR
PZZ356.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS UNTIL 5 AM PDT
WEDNESDAY
FOR PZZ356.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS UNTIL 5 AM PDT
WEDNESDAY
FOR PZZ350-370.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WINDS UNTIL 5 AM PDT WEDNESDAY FOR
PZZ376.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS UNTIL 5 AM PDT
WEDNESDAY
FOR PZZ376.
BTL/WRIGHT/PETRUCELLIThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Butte wildfire started on 08/21/12. The cause is still under investigation. It was contained by 09/02/12. At that time it burned 142 acres and $3 million was spent on wildfire fighting efforts.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, September 2012
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: 400986.