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, two of which developed into the Big Windy Complex Wildfire.
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, two of which developed into the Big Windy Complex Wildfire.
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, 7:00 PM PST, 5 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR 800 PM PDT SAT AUG 31 2013 .DISCUSSION...01/00Z NAM IN. A QUIET EVENING WEATHERWISE OVER THE MEDFORD CWA WITH SOME MARINE STRATUS ALONG THE COAST AND IN THE COASTAL VALLEYS. OTHERWISE SKIES ARE CLEAR WITH LIGHT WINDS. SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT PREVAILS OVER THE AREA BETWEEN A LARGE CUTOFF LOW NEAR 43N 137W AND A RIDGE OVER THE CENTRAL U.S. THE LOW WILL DRIFT SLOWLY SOUTHEAST TO NEAR 45N 130W SUNDAY AFTERNOON. NOT MUCH HAPPENING BETWEEN NOW AND SUNDAY MORNING...JUST A WEAK WAVE MOVING THROUGH ON SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. ONCE THE CUTOFF MOVES TO 130W SUNDAY...THERE WILL BE AN INCREASING CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION ALONG THE COAST AND IN THE COAST RANGE AS A WEAK FRONT WRAPPED AROUND THE LOW PUSHES ONSHORE SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY. THIS WILL ALSO CAUSE WINDS TO PICK UP EAST OF THE CASCADES SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. AN INCREASE IN MID-LEVEL MOISTURE COMBINED WITH SURFACE HEATING MAY BE SUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT ISOLATED AIR MASS TYPE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE FAR EAST SIDE AS WELL... ALTHOUGH THERE IS LITTLE IN THE WAY OF UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT. A RED FLAG WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THOSE AREAS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE OFFSHORE CUTOFF LOW WILL DRIFT VERY SLOWLY NORTHEAST SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY. UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT FOR THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE EAST SIDE WILL INCREASE MONDAY AFTERNOON AS THERE WILL BE MORE MOISTURE IN THE AIR MASS AND THE PROXIMITY OF THE LOW WILL MAKE FOR COOLER AIR ALOFT AND THUS STEEPER LAPSE RATES. THE MODEL LIFTED INDICES ACCORDINGLY INDICATE MORE UNSTABLE CONDITIONS AT THAT TIME. EXTENDED DISCUSSION FROM THE SATURDAY AFTERNOON AFD...MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY. BEYOND MONDAY EVENING...THE GFS IS FASTEST IN MOVING THE CENTER OF THE TROUGH EAST OF 130W AND THEN TRACKS THE TROUGH INLAND/EASTWARD FARTHER TO THE SOUTH. THE FORECAST STILL MAINTAINS A MODEL BLEND OF THE GFS AND ECMWF WITH A CONSISTENT SLIGHT CHANCE TO CHANCE OF SHOWERS THROUGH THURSDAY IN MOST OF SOUTHWEST OREGON. MEANWHILE...THE DEEPER MOISTURE AND ASSOCIATED INSTABILITY IS EXPECTED TO BE PUSHED NORTHEASTWARD OUT OF OUR AREA. IF THE ECMWF SOLUTION WERE TO VERIFY...THE FORECAST WOULD NEED TO BE ADJUSTED WITH LOWER POPS AND HIGHER TEMPERATURES WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. && .AVIATION...BASED ON THE 01/00Z TAF CYCLE. THE MARINE LAYER IS DEEPENING AND ONSHORE PRESSURE GRADIENTS ARE INCREASING THIS EVENING...BRINGING MVFR/IFR CEILINGS TO THE COAST AND COASTAL VALLEYS. CEILINGS SHOULD LOWER TO MOSTLY IFR TONIGHT...WITH SOME LOWER VISIBILITIES AS WELL. LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY SUNDAY MORNING STRATUS MAY PUSH ACROSS THE COAST RANGE TO THE UMPQUA BASIN...AROUND ROSEBURG...IN THE FORM OF MVFR CEILINGS. CONFIDENCE IS ONLY MODERATE ON THIS SCENARIO...AND THUS ONLY A BRIEF PERIOD OF CEILINGS IS EXPECTED IN THE UMPQUA BASIN. CLOSER TO THE COAST...LOW CLOUDS WILL LIKELY REMAIN ALL DAY ON SUNDAY. OUTSIDE OF ANY MARINE STRATUS AT THE COAST AND UMPQUA BASIN...VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THE NEXT 24 HOURS. SK && .MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...RED FLAG WARNING FROM NOON TO 9 PM PDT SUNDAY FOR ORZ029>031. CA...RED FLAG WARNING FROM NOON TO 9 PM PDT SUNDAY FOR CAZ083>085. PACIFIC COASTAL WATERS...NONE. 15/15/15
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The last report on the Big Windy Complex reported that 24253 acres were burned and containment was at 87%. 32 million dollars had been spent on firefighting efforts and the estimated containment date was 09/15/13.
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, September 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: 467506.