Unknown reason for a fire that started on private property and quickly spread due to winds. There is a rumor that it was due to a lawn mower that hit a rock and sparked the fire.
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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 PDT wrote it up.
Unknown reason for a fire that started on private property and quickly spread due to winds. There is a rumor that it was due to a lawn mower that hit a rock and sparked the fire. The fire would spread to 25,937 acres. The fire was estimated to be contained by midnight on August 3rd.
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 Jul 29, 2:42 PM PST, 1 hour 48 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 342 PM PDT TUE JUL 29 2014 UPDATED AVIATION DISCUSSION .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN OVER THE REGION THROUGH FRIDAY AND BEYOND. MOISTURE WORKING ITS WAY AROUND THE HIGH WILL CONTINUE TO IMPACT THE FORECAST AREA FROM CENTRAL OREGON TO NORTHEAST OREGON WITH SOME SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. THE COVERAGE OF THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL GRADUALLY INCREASE THROUGH THE WEEK AS MOISTURE BECOMES MORE ABUNDANT IN THE ATMOSPHERE. THE HIGH WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES ABOVE NORMAL FOR BOTH DAYTIME AND OVERNIGHT. OTHER THAN SOME LOCAL BREEZY WINDS ALONG THE EAST SLOPES OF THE CASCADES WINDS WILL REMAIN LIGHT. .LONG TERM...FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO REMAIN OVER THE WEST THROUGH AT LEAST MONDAY. OUR AREA WILL BE ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE RIDGE IN A SOUTHWEST FLOW. SEVERAL WAVES WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA AND RIDE OVER THE RIDGE AND MODELS ARE COMING INTO SOMEWHAT BETTER AGREEMENT ABOUT THE DETAILS. FRIDAY NIGHT THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE WINDING DOWN IN THE LATE EVENING WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OVER CENTRAL AND NORTH CENTRAL OREGON, THE EASTERN OREGON MOUNTAINS AND THE WASHINGTON CASCADES NEAR CLE ELUM. ON SATURDAY A WAVE WILL BE OFF THE COAST AND WILL CREATE A WEAK TROUGH OFFSHORE. THIS WILL TURN THE FLOW MORE SOUTHERLY AND SEND A STREAM OF MOISTURE INTO THE AREA. THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER MOST OF THE AREA, THOUGH AT THIS POINT, THE WASHINGTON COLUMBIA BASIN AND THE WASHINGTON CASCADES NORTH OF MOUNT ADAMS LOOK DRY. ON SUNDAY THE WAVE WEAKENS IN THE ECMWF AND REMAINS ALONG THE COAST IN THE GFS. THE ECMWF SHOWS LITTLE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WHILE THE GFS SHOWS ACTIVITY MAINLY OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND CENTRAL OREGON. CURRENT FORECAST WAS SIMILAR TO THE GFS SO HAVE KEPT IT FOR NOW. ON MONDAY THE ECMWF HAS THE RIDGE CENTERED OVER IDAHO WITH ANOTHER DRY DAY WHILE THE GFS CONTINUES TO SHOW WEAKENING CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY. HAVE CUT BACK A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TO CENTRAL OREGON, THE EASTERN OREGON MOUNTAINS AND THE WASHINGTON CASCADES. BY TUESDAY BOTH MODELS ARE HINTING THAT AN UPPER LOW IN THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL NUDGE THE RIDGE OVER INTO MONTANA. THIS WILL MAINTAIN THE SOUTHWEST FLOW AND WHILE MOISTURE IS MARGINAL, INSTABILITY WILL STILL BE PRESENT SO HAVE KEPT A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE EASTER OREGON MOUNTAINS. TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO BE IN THE MID 90S AND LOWER 100S WITH MID 80S TO MID 90S IN THE MOUNTAINS. PERRY && .AVIATION...00Z TAFS...VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. THUNDERSTORMS WITH SCT-BKN CLOUDS ABOVE 10000 FEET AGL HAVE DEVELOPED OVER CENTRAL OREGON AND THE OCHOCO-JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS THIS AFTERNOON AND SHOULD CONTINUE THROUGH 04Z-05Z. THIS WILL AFFECT KBDN AND KRDM AND HAVE PLACED VCTS IN THE TAFS FOR THOSE SITES. THE REST OF THE AREA WILL HAVE FEW-SCT HIGH CUMULUS AND CIRRUS INITIALLY BUT CLOUD COVER WILL INCREASE AS THUNDERSTORM BLOWOFF REACHES AREAS FURTHER NORTH. COVERAGE WILL DECREASE OVERNIGHT. TOMORROW AFTERNOON EXPECT A REPEAT OF THUNDERSTORMS IN CENTRAL OREGON AFTER 21Z AND HAVE VCTS IN THE TAFS ONCE AGAIN AT KBDN AND KRDM. SURFACE WINDS WILL GENERALLY REMAIN BELOW 15 KTS FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS THOUGH KDLS MAY HAVE SOME GUSTS TO 20 KTS THROUGH 05Z AND AGAIN AFTER 18Z. KRDM AND KBDN MAY HAVE WINDS OF 10-20 KTS WITH HIGHER GUSTS DURING NEARBY THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. PERRY && .FIRE WX...WARM AND DRY CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST AS A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE REMAINS OVER THE REGION. OVERNIGHT HUMIDITY RECOVERY WILL BE POOR TO MODERATE...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE RIDGES EAST OF THE CASCADES. FURTHERMORE...MONSOON MOISTURE MOVING INTO THE AREA WILL BRING ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS TO CENTRAL OREGON...THE JOHN DAY HIGHLANDS AND WALLOWA COUNTY THROUGH THIS EVENING. EACH DAY THIS WEEK...SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL INCREASE AND SPREAD NORTH AND EAST AS SEVERAL WEAK DISTURBANCES INTERACT WITH THE MONSOON FLOW. HOWEVER...THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD MOSTLY STAY SOUTH OF THE WASHINGTON BORDER UNTIL FRIDAY. ANY STORMS THAT DEVELOP WILL INITIALLY HAVE LIMITED PRECIPITATION SO WILL MONITOR STORM DEVELOPMENT AS WELL AS MODEL CONSISTENCY TO DETERMINE IF ANY RED FLAG WARNINGS WILL NEED TO BE ISSUED IN THE COMING DAYS. COBB && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... PDT 68 99 67 98 / 10 10 10 10 ALW 71 99 71 99 / 0 10 10 10 PSC 68 102 68 101 / 0 0 0 10 YKM 65 100 64 100 / 0 0 0 10 HRI 68 101 67 100 / 0 0 0 10 ELN 59 99 59 98 / 0 0 0 10 RDM 57 94 57 93 / 30 20 20 20 LGD 61 94 62 93 / 20 20 20 20 GCD 66 93 63 91 / 30 20 30 20 DLS 67 97 65 97 / 0 10 10 10 && .PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...NONE. WA...HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 9 PM PDT WEDNESDAY WAZ028. && FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT... WWW.WEATHER.GOV/PENDLETON 91/83/83
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
InciWeb information.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, July 2014
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: 530654.