Lightning caused the Pole Creek wildfire 6 miles southwest of Sisters on September 9. The fire burned 26,795 acres before being contained October 20.
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 PDT wrote it up.
Lightning caused the Pole Creek wildfire 6 miles southwest of Sisters on September 9. The fire burned 26,795 acres before being contained October 20. Extensive smoke periodically covered portions of central Oregon causing health concerns.
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 Pendleton, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 9, 3:02 AM PST, 2 hours 28 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
402 AM PDT SUN SEP 9 2012
UPDATED AVIATION DISCUSSION
.SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT...A WEAKENING UPPER LOW
CONTINUES TO MOVE INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. THIS SYSTEM IS BEING
PUSHED NORTHEAST INTO THE REGION BY THE APPROACH OF STRONGER SYSTEM
MOVING EAST-SOUTHEAST OUT OF THE GULF OF ALASKA. SCATTERED SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN OCCURRING ALONG THE WASHINGTON CASCADE
CREST AND EXPECT THIS LINE TO LIFT NORTHEAST AND CONTINUE TO AFFECT
KITTITAS COUNTY UNTIL AROUND 8 AM. ISOLATED SHOWERS AND STORMS
TRACKED NORTH-NORTHEAST IN TWO NARROW BANDS THROUGH THE YAKIMA
VALLEY AROUND MIDNIGHT. ANOTHER BAND HAS NOW SET UP FROM NORTHWEST
UMATILLA COUNTY NORTH-NORTHEAST TO NORTH-CENTRAL FRANKLIN COUNTY.
THIS BAND SHOULD LIFT NORTH OUT OF THE AREA IN AN HOUR OR TWO.
EXPECT OTHER BANDS OF ISOLATED STORMS TO DEVELOP OVER OUR EASTERN
ZONES THROUGH THIS MORNING. A FEW STORMS MAY LINGER INTO THE
AFTERNOON OVER WALLOWA COUNTY. THE THUNDERSTORM THREAT SHOULD BE
PRETTY MUCH DONE FOR CENTRAL OREGON. AS THIS UPPER LOW LIFTS
NORTHEAST AND OUT OF THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON, WINDS SHOULD INCREASE
ACROSS THE AREA. EXPECT WINDS OF 15 TO 30 MPH SUSTAINED OVER MANY
AREAS TODAY. SOME PATCHY BLOWING DUST MAY DEVELOP IN NORTHERN
FRANKLIN COUNTY AND NEAR HERMISTON WHERE FIELDS HAVE RECENTLY OPENED
AND HAVE PRODUCED DUST. HIGH TEMPS TODAY WILL COOL 5 TO 10 DEGREES
FROM YESTERDAY DUE TO AN INFLUX OF MARINE AIR THIS AFTERNOON. THE
STRONGER SYSTEM MOVING OUT OF THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL SWING ACROSS
THE REGION MONDAY. THIS SYSTEM WILL PUSH A COLD FRONT THROUGH THE
REGION, DROPPING TEMPS ANOTHER 5 TO 11 DEGREES MONDAY. WINDS WILL BE
STRONGER BEHIND THE COLD FRONT MONDAY, WITH WINDS IN THE KITTITAS
VALLEY POSSIBLY RUNNING IN THE 30 TO 40 MPH RANGE. PATCHY BLOWING
DUST COULD BE A MORE WIDESPREAD PROBLEM ACROSS THE COLUMBIA BASIN
MONDAY AS WELL. PRECIPITATION WITH THIS STRONGER SYSTEM WILL BE
LIMITED TO NEAR THE CASCADE CREST AND POSSIBLY INTO THE NORTHERN
BLUE MOUNTAINS. 90
.LONG TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...ECMWF AND GFS MODELS ARE IN
CLOSE AGREEMENT THROUGH THE LONG TERM PERIOD. AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE
WILL BUILD OFFSHORE TUESDAY PRODUCING A DRY NORTHERLY FLOW OVER THE
PACIFIC NORTHWEST. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN COOL TUESDAY. WITH CLEAR
SKIES AND LIGHT WINDS STRONG RADIATIONAL COOLING WILL BRING VERY
COOL TEMPERATURES TUESDAY NIGHT/WEDNESDAY MORNING. THE RIDGE WILL
MOVE INLAND AND BUILD WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. AS THE RIDGE MOVES
INLAND IT WILL BRING CLEAR DRY CONDITIONS AND SLOWLY WARMING
TEMPERATURES OVER EASTERN WASHINGTON AND OREGON. WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT
WILL BE OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. WITH VERY
LIMITED MOISTURE AND NO STRONG TRIGGERS EXPECT DRY CONDITIONS WITH
LITTLE CHANGE IN TEMPERATURES FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. COONFIELD
&&
.AVIATION...12Z TAFS...MAINLY VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OVER THE
NEXT 24 HOURS. BREEZY CONDITIONS AT ALL TAF SITES BY AFTERNOON.
STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE AT KDLS. MVFR CONDITIONS IN BLOWING DUST ARE
POSSIBLE AT KPSC...KPDT...AND KALW...BUT THE PROBABILITY IS TOO LOW
TO INCLUDE IN TAFS. WINDS WILL SLOWLY DECREASE OVERNIGHT. 76
&&
.FIRE WEATHER...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL PERSIST BEYOND SUNRISE
ACROSS KITTITAS COUNTY, THUS THE CURRENT RED FLAG FOR ABUNDANT
LIGHTNING IN KITTITAS COUNTY WILL CONTINUE UNTIL 8 AM. DEPENDING ON
STORM PERSISTENCE BEYOND THAT TIME, THE RED FLAG MAY BE EXTENDED.
A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM APPROACHING THE REGION THIS EVENING WILL BRING
ENOUGH MOISTURE INTO THE AREA FOR ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
FROM THE CASCADES EASTWARD INTO THE BLUE MOUNTAINS AND WALLOWA
COUNTY BY SUNDAY MORNING. THESE WILL BE HIGH-BASED STORMS WITH VERY
LITTLE RAIN...BUT SHOULD ONLY BE LAL 2. THE CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY WILL
MOVE OUT OF THE AREA SUNDAY AFTERNOON. A COLD FRONT WILL THEN COME
IN FROM THE WEST WITH STRONG WINDS THAT WILL LAST THROUGH SUNDAY
EVENING...DIMINISH SLIGHTLY SUNDAY NIGHT...THEN BECOME STRONG AGAIN
ON MONDAY. THE COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY
AND CRITICALLY DRY FUELS COULD CREATE EXTREME FIRE BEHAVIOR AND
GROWTH BOTH SUNDAY AND MONDAY...AND RED FLAG WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
PDT 81 50 73 41 / 20 0 10 0
ALW 83 55 74 46 / 20 10 10 0
PSC 85 53 77 40 / 20 0 10 0
YKM 82 46 72 35 / 10 10 10 0
HRI 83 52 76 40 / 20 0 10 0
ELN 77 51 66 41 / 30 10 10 0
RDM 80 38 72 26 / 10 10 0 0
LGD 84 46 73 36 / 20 10 10 10
GCD 84 44 75 35 / 20 0 0 0
DLS 76 53 71 45 / 10 10 10 0
&&
.PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...RED FLAG WARNING FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 11 PM PDT MONDAY
ORZ041-042-044-050-502-503-505>509.
WA...RED FLAG WARNING FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 11 PM PDT MONDAY
WAZ024-026>029-520-521.
RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 8 AM PDT THIS MORNING WAZ026-027-520.
&&
THREAT INDEX
TODAY : GREEN
MONDAY : YELLOW
TUESDAY : GREEN
GREEN: NONE OR LIMITED NEED FOR WATCHES, WARNINGS, OR ADVISORIES.
YELLOW: A FEW WATCHES, WARNINGS, OR ADVISORIES POSSIBLE OR IN EFFECT.
RED: NUMEROUS WATCHES, WARNINGS, OR ADVISORIES POSSIBLE OR IN EFFECT.
FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT...
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/PENDLETON
90/76/76HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
603 PM PDT SAT SEP 8 2012
UPDATED FOR INCREASED THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE TONIGHT AND TOMORROW AND
UPGRADED FIRE WEATHER WATCH INTO RED FLAG WARNING
ORZ041-042-044-049-050-502-503-505>509-WAZ024-026>030-520-521-
091415-
EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE OF OREGON-NORTH CENTRAL OREGON-
LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN OF OREGON-GRANDE RONDE VALLEY-WALLOWA COUNTY-
NORTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON-
SOUTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON-JOHN DAY BASIN-OCHOCO-
JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS-
FOOTHILLS OF THE NORTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON-
FOOTHILLS OF THE SOUTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON-
EAST SLOPES OF THE OREGON CASCADES-
EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE OF WASHINGTON-KITTITAS VALLEY-
YAKIMA VALLEY-LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN OF WASHINGTON-
FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS OF WASHINGTON-
NORTHWEST BLUE MOUNTAINS OF WASHINGTON-
EAST SLOPES OF THE WASHINGTON CASCADES-SIMCOE HIGHLANDS-
603 PM PDT SAT SEP 8 2012
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON
AS WELL AS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON.
.DAY ONE...TONIGHT
THUNDERSTORMS
EAST SLOPES OF THE WASHINGTON CASCADES, SIMCOE HIGHLANDS,
EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE OF WASHINGTON, KITTITAS VALLEY,
YAKIMA VALLEY, LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN OF WASHINGTON, FOOTHILLS
OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS OF WASHINGTON, NORTHWEST BLUE MOUNTAINS
OF WASHINGTON, EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE OF OREGON, NORTH
CENTRAL OREGON, EAST SLOPES OF THE OREGON CASCADES, LOWER
COLUMBIA BASIN OF OREGON, GRANDE RONDE VALLEY, WALLOWA COUNTY,
FOOTHILLS OF THE NORTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON, NORTHERN
BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON, SOUTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON,
FOOTHILLS OF THE SOUTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON, JOHN DAY
BASIN, OCHOCO-JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS
A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL COMBINE WITH MID LEVEL MOISTURE TO
PRODUCE A FEW THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE INTERIOR PACIFIC NORTHWEST
THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY
THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY
FOOTHILLS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS OF WASHINGTON, NORTHWEST BLUE
MOUNTAINS OF WASHINGTON, GRANDE RONDE VALLEY, WALLOWA COUNTY,
FOOTHILLS OF THE NORTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON, NORTHERN
BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON, SOUTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON
RED FLAG WARNING SUNDAY
EAST SLOPES OF THE WASHINGTON CASCADES, SIMCOE HIGHLANDS,
EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE OF WASHINGTON, KITTITAS VALLEY,
YAKIMA VALLEY, LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN OF WASHINGTON, FOOTHILLS
OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS OF WASHINGTON, NORTHWEST BLUE MOUNTAINS
OF WASHINGTON, EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE OF OREGON, NORTH
CENTRAL OREGON, EAST SLOPES OF THE OREGON CASCADES, LOWER
COLUMBIA BASIN OF OREGON, WALLOWA COUNTY, FOOTHILLS OF THE
NORTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON, NORTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF
OREGON, SOUTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON, FOOTHILLS OF THE
SOUTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON, JOHN DAY BASIN, OCHOCO-JOHN
DAY HIGHLANDS
CONTACT YOUR LOCAL FOREST OR LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCY FOR
CURRENT FIRE DANGER CONDITIONS IN YOUR AREA.
RED FLAG WARNING MONDAY
EAST SLOPES OF THE WASHINGTON CASCADES, SIMCOE HIGHLANDS,
EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE OF WASHINGTON, KITTITAS VALLEY,
YAKIMA VALLEY, LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN OF WASHINGTON, FOOTHILLS
OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS OF WASHINGTON, NORTHWEST BLUE MOUNTAINS
OF WASHINGTON, EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE OF OREGON, NORTH
CENTRAL OREGON, EAST SLOPES OF THE OREGON CASCADES, LOWER
COLUMBIA BASIN OF OREGON, WALLOWA COUNTY, FOOTHILLS OF THE
NORTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON, NORTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF
OREGON, SOUTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON, FOOTHILLS OF THE
SOUTHERN BLUE MOUNTAINS OF OREGON, JOHN DAY BASIN, OCHOCO-JOHN
DAY HIGHLANDS
A COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP ACROSS THE AREA AND AID IN DEVELOPING
THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE BLUE MOUNTAINS SUNDAY.
WARM AND VERY DRY CONDITIONS WILL PRECEDE A COLD FRONT THAT WILL
BRING WINDY CONDITIONS ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY. WINDS WILL INCREASE ON
SUNDAY AFTERNOON TO 15 TO 25 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS IN MANY AREAS
WHERE RELATIVE HUMIDITY WILL BE BELOW 20 PERCENT. THIS WILL CAUSE
EXTREME FIRE BEHAVIOR AND GROWTH ON EXISTING WILDFIRES ACROSS
CENTRAL OREGON...NORTH CENTRAL OREGON...AND SOUTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON
WHERE A RED FLAG WARNING IS IN EFFECT. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CAN BE
FOUND UNDER THE HEADER...PDXRFWPDT.
.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.
WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
GRAPHICAL FORECASTS OF WEATHER HAZARDS OUT TO SEVEN DAYS
ARE DISPLAYED ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT:
WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/PDT/CURRENTHAZARDS/HWO.HTML
ALL LETTERS IN THE ABOVE URL ARE LOWER CASE.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
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: 412663.