Name: Wildfire in Washington, July 5 to 10, 2012
Start: 2012-07-05T13:30
End: 2012-07-10T00:00
Location: Washington

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 1
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 OTX wrote it up.

A wildfire which started on July 5th around 1330 PDT, burned 800 acres of medium fuels consisting of grass, light brush and pockets of trees roughly eight miles northwest of Entiat, Washington. In addition to the steep terrain, hot and dry conditions on the 5th and 6th could be blamed for the wildfire growth from 100 to 800 acres over the two day period. One firefighter suffered minor injuries when he was hit by a rock rolling down the hillside. 40 homes were threatened but no structures were burned by the wildfire.

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 Spokane, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 5, 1:26 PM PST, 4 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 5, 1:26 PM PST, 4 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA
226 PM PDT Thu Jul 5 2012

.SYNOPSIS...
A big warm up is on the way. Some of the hottest weather in the
last couple of years is anticipated Sunday and Monday. A few
locations in the Inland Northwest will flirt with record heat
early next week. Temperatures may trend closer to average by the
end of next week, but warmer than normal conditions are likely
through at least Thursday or Friday.

&&

.DISCUSSION...

Tonight...Potential instability associated with a weak upper level
low over eastern BC will continue to bring a few convective clouds
to the mountains of NC Washington through the early evening.
Otherwise look for clear skies and dry conditions across Inland
NW as high pressure builds over the region. Low temperatures tonight
will be milder than the last couple nights...as the evening
temperatures begin considerably warmer...while dewpoint readings
are also a little higher. fx

Friday through Monday...Longwave ridge remains overhead and
amplifies with time through this interval and most models suggest
peak either Sunday or Monday. Therefore max temperatures follow
the warming trend suggested by this scenario and peak either
Sunday and/or Monday. Additionally minor pops and mention of
thunderstorms remains as numerous model runs have hinted at some
disturbances tied into moisture moving up from the south and under
the ridge having potential to fire off convection at times in this
forecast interval. Confidence of this occurring is still low but
high enough to continue to mention in this discussion and depict
with minimal pops. /Pelatti

Monday night through Friday: A ridge of high pressure will keep
its grasp on the Inland NW but begin to weaken as energy dropping
out of the Gulf of Alaska tops its northern periphery. As a
result...mid level flow will transition from the south toward the
southwest. This should bring some drier air into the Cascades and
keep the intrusion of monsoonal moisture at bay across SE WA and
lower ID Panhandle...where we have focused our best chance for
thunderstorms. Models are picking up on one particular shortwave
trough tracking along the BC/WA border Friday night...potentially
dragging a relative cool pool through and increasing the
instability (chance for isolated thunder) but given the wavering in
recent model runs on how far south to place this feature...we
have only introduced slight chance PoPs for the time being.
Temperatures will remain well above seasonal normals with highs
remaining in the 90's for most valley locations...but overall...
a net cooling compared to the Sunday-Monday time-frame. /sb

&&

.AVIATION...
18z TAFS: Dry southwest flow will keep TAF sites cloud free
through around 06z Friday. After that time...some mid level
instability could create some pockets of clouds...but bases will
remain well into the VFR category. fx

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Spokane        54  87  61  88  63  97 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Coeur d'Alene  47  86  55  89  59  96 /   0   0   0   0   0  10
Pullman        45  88  52  89  57  97 /   0   0   0   0  10   0
Lewiston       56  97  63  98  66 103 /   0  10  10  10  10  10
Colville       48  88  52  91  58 101 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Sandpoint      42  83  46  86  52  94 /   0   0   0   0   0  10
Kellogg        47  84  53  87  57  96 /   0  10  10  10  10  10
Moses Lake     53  94  57  95  63 102 /   0   0   0   0  10  10
Wenatchee      58  93  61  94  65  99 /   0   0   0   0   0   0
Omak           47  91  54  92  60 100 /   0   0   0   0   0   0

&&

.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...None.
WA...None.
&&

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, East Slopes Northern Cascades

When: July 5, 1:30 PM PST to July 10, 12:00 AM PST
Where: East Slopes Northern Cascades forecast zone
Injuries: 0 direct, 1 indirect
Reported by: Park/Forest Service

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 Washington in 2012 Every state in 2012 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, July 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: 386838.