Some nocturnal thunderstorms generated numerous lightning strikes over southwest Oregon in the early morning hours on 07/26/2013. The lightning started dozens of fires, four of which developed into the Douglas Complex.
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.
Some nocturnal thunderstorms generated numerous lightning strikes over southwest Oregon in the early morning hours on 07/26/2013. The lightning started dozens of fires, four of which developed into the Douglas Complex.
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 Jul 26, 12:50 AM PST, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
150 AM PDT FRI JUL 26 2013
.DISCUSSION...TEMPERATURES AT THE MEDFORD AIRPORT TOPPED OUT AT
106 DEGREES YESTERDAY WHICH WAS 1 DEGREE SHORT OF A RECORD FOR THE
DAY (107 FROM 1988). WE DID ACHIEVE NEW RECORD HIGHS IN ALTURAS,
CA (100) AND MONTAGUE, CA (102). NEEDLESS TO SAY, THAT WAS UNUSUAL
AND IT WILL ALSO BE QUITE HOT AGAIN TODAY. BUT THIS SHOULD BE THE
LAST DAY OF REALLY HOT WEATHER FOR A WHILE.
THE CONVECTION FROM LAST EVENING HAS DIED OUT BUT IT REMAINS
UNSTABLE ENOUGH TO POP A FEW WEAK CELLS FROM TIME TO TIME. ONE
SUCH CELL IS MOVING THROUGH SOUTHERN JOSEPHINE COUNTY RIGHT NOW.
IT HASN'T PRODUCED ANY LIGHTNING, AND IT'S PRETTY COMPACT. BUT IT
IS FAIRLY TALL, TOPPING OUT AT AROUND 30 KFT. WOULDN'T BE
SURPRISED TO SEE ANOTHER CELL OR TWO LIKE THAT THIS MORNING.
HEIGHTS START LOWERING TODAY AS A TROUGH DROPPING THROUGH THE NE
PACIFIC APPROACHES. THE MODELS ARE ALL CONSISTENT IN SHOWING OUR
TEMPERATURES TO BE A TAD COOLER THAN YESTERDAY ON THE WEST SIDE,
BUT STILL WELL ABOVE NORMAL. ELSEWHERE, TEMPERATURES WILL BE
ROUGHLY THE SAME AS YESTERDAY. I'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE THAT OUR
FORECAST HIGH OF 101 IN MEDFORD IS HIGH ENOUGH. FREQUENTLY COOLER
AIR IS SLOWER TO ARRIVE THAN THE MODELS SHOW AND WE GET BURNED (NO
PUN INTENDED) ON OUR HIGHS THE DAY JUST PRIOR TO THE BIG COOL
DOWN. BUT YESTERDAY'S 106 WAS SO ANOMALOUS THAT I'LL KEEP WHAT WE
HAVE FOR TODAY.
THE OTHER CONCERN FOR TODAY IS THE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL. IT WILL
BE VERY UNSTABLE (LI'S < -2, MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES > 8, CAPES
200-500 J/KG) OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN PORTION OF THE FORECAST AREA -
ROUGHLY SOUTHEAST OF A LINE FROM AROUND MT. SHASTA TO LAKEVIEW. IN
FACT, THE NAM DEPICTS SOMETHING THAT LOOKS MUCH LIKE A FRONT LATE
THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING DEVELOPING IN THAT AREA AND THEN
MOVING EAST. IT LINES UP CONVECTION ALONG THAT BOUNDARY AND HAS
RATHER BREEZY WINDS BEHIND IT. I'M NOT JUMPING ON THE NAM
BANDWAGON ALL THE WAY SINCE IT HAS BEEN FLAKY LATELY.
NEVERTHELESS, ALL INDICATORS ARE THAT THE BEST CHANCE FOR THUNDER
WILL BE OVER THE AFOREMENTIONED AREAS. I'VE KEPT THUNDERSTORM
PROBS IN THE SLIGHT CHANCE CATEGORY, BUT THIS WILL HAVE TO BE
WATCHED AS I COULD SEE HOW WE GET MORE THAN THAT.
THE TROUGH BEGINS MOVING ONSHORE SATURDAY AND WE'LL FINALLY BREAK
THIS HEAT WAVE. THERE REMAINS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF CONVECTION ALONG
OUR SOUTHERN TIER OF COUNTIES BUT IT IS REMOTE. TEMPERATURES COOL
5-10 DEGREES AREA-WIDE SATURDAY. SUNDAY LOOKS DRY DESPITE THE
TROUGH AXIS MOVING RIGHT OVER US. THIS WILL KNOCK ANOTHER 5
DEGREES OR SO OFF OUR TEMPERATURES. BOTH SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
AFTERNOONS WILL BE RATHER DRY AND BREEZY, WHICH COULD PRESENT A
FIRE WEATHER CONCERN IF TODAY'S (OR PREVIOUS DAY'S) LIGHTNING HAS
RESULTED IN ANY STARTS.
NO CHANGES WERE MADE TO THE EXTENDED FORECAST AS ALL THINGS
CONTINUE TO POINT TO DRY WEATHER WITH TEMPERATURES AROUND NORMAL
THROUGH NEXT WEEK. -WRIGHT
&&
.AVIATION...BASED ON THE 26/06Z TAF CYCLE.
MARINE STRATUS WITH AREAS OF IFR CIGS IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE ALONG
THE COAST AND INTO COASTAL VALLEYS NORTH OF CAPE BLANCO THROUGH
EARLY THIS MORNING. SOME IFR FOG IS ALSO EXPECTED. SOUTH OF CAPE
BLANCO...OFFSHORE FLOW SHOULD KEEP SKIES MOSTLY CLEAR...BUT PATCHY
VALLEY FOG MAY DEVELOP TOWARD SUNRISE. MARINE STRATUS AND FOG IS
EXPECTED TO CLEAR TO VFR BETWEEN 16-18Z. INLAND...VFR IS EXPECTED
OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO
DEVELOP FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING OVER AREAS EAST OF THE CASCADES
IN SOUTHERN OREGON AND INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. GUSTY AND VARIABLE
WINDS WILL ACCOMPANY THUNDERSTORMS. CC
&&
.MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OR...RED FLAG WARNING FROM NOON TODAY TO 8 PM PDT SATURDAY FOR
ORZ031.
CA...NONE.
PACIFIC COASTAL WATERS...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WINDS UNTIL 11 AM
PDT SATURDAY FOR PZZ356.
HAZARDOUS SEAS WARNING FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 11 PM PDT
SUNDAY FOR PZZ356.
GALE WARNING FROM 11 AM SATURDAY TO 11 PM PDT SUNDAY FOR PZZ356.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS UNTIL 11 AM PDT THIS
MORNING FOR PZZ356.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WINDS UNTIL 11 PM PDT SUNDAY FOR
PZZ350-370.
HAZARDOUS SEAS WARNING FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 5 AM PDT
SUNDAY FOR PZZ370.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS UNTIL 11 AM PDT THIS
MORNING FOR PZZ370.
GALE WARNING UNTIL 11 PM PDT SUNDAY FOR PZZ376.
HAZARDOUS SEAS WARNING UNTIL 11 AM PDT MONDAY FOR PZZ376.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS UNTIL 11 PM PDT SUNDAY
FOR PZZ350.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
This complex consists of four fires. As of 08/01/13, it covered 28496 acres and was 7 percent contained. Fire fighting expenditures at this point was 6.0 million dollars.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, July 2013
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: 458517.