The Crane Road Fire burned through 12,000 acres of sagebrush, grassland, and light timber in northern Douglas County, across the Columbia River from Brewster. The fire started when controlled burning of orchard weeds at an organic farm spread to dry grass and was quickly fanned by 25 mph winds.
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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 OTX wrote it up.
The Crane Road Fire burned through 12,000 acres of sagebrush, grassland, and light timber in northern Douglas County, across the Columbia River from Brewster. The fire started when controlled burning of orchard weeds at an organic farm spread to dry grass and was quickly fanned by 25 mph winds. Seven outbuildings were burned on the first day of the fire, but no homes were lost. The fire also consumed several power-poles.
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 1, 9:45 AM PST, 1 hour 42 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 1045 AM PDT Wed Aug 1 2012 .SYNOPSIS... An upper level low currently over northern British Columbia will drop southeast over the next couple days resulting in only a small chance of thunderstorms near the Canadian border. Drier northwest flow will spill into the region Thursday evening and continue through Saturday resulting in dry but locally breezy weather. Warmer and mainly dry conditions will return to the region by Sunday and continuing into early next week. && .DISCUSSION... Quiet weather expected today as a low pressure system tracks east- southeast across British Columbia today. Moisture and energy will remain north of our border today. Visible satellite reveals some high clouds moving in from the northwest but little cumulus has developed over the northern mountains so far. Expect precipitation to remain to our north with just a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms for the higher terrain of the extreme northeast portion of the forecast area overnight. Max temperatures for today were raised a bit to account for recent trends in observations. /Kelch && .AVIATION... 18Z TAFS...Mostly clear skies and light winds can be expected through much of the day. The next upper level disturbance will move through BC on this afternoon and evening and spread high level clouds to the northern mountains overnight. Winds in the KEAT area will pick up late in the afternoon and evening with occasional gusts. Otherwise VFR conditions expected through Thursday 18z. /EK && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Spokane 84 57 82 55 84 58 / 0 0 10 10 0 0 Coeur d'Alene 85 55 80 53 83 53 / 0 0 10 10 10 0 Pullman 82 50 80 49 82 47 / 0 0 10 0 0 0 Lewiston 91 60 90 61 91 59 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Colville 90 56 85 51 88 54 / 0 10 20 10 10 0 Sandpoint 83 52 80 49 82 47 / 0 0 10 10 10 0 Kellogg 81 52 75 51 81 53 / 0 0 10 10 10 0 Moses Lake 89 59 87 57 89 56 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Wenatchee 88 62 86 62 91 63 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Omak 90 58 86 55 90 56 / 0 10 10 0 0 0 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...None. WA...None. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 604 AM PDT WED AUG 1 2012 IDZ001>004-026-027-WAZ031>038-041>044-021315- NORTHERN PANHANDLE-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- MOSES LAKE AREA-UPPER COLUMBIA BASIN-SPOKANE AREA- NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS-OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS-WENATCHEE AREA- EAST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES-OKANOGAN VALLEY-WATERVILLE PLATEAU- 604 AM PDT WED AUG 1 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH IDAHO... NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO...CENTRAL WASHINGTON...EAST CENTRAL WASHINGTON...NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON...NORTHEAST WASHINGTON AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY 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.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, August 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: 404684.