LEVEL 2 EVACUATION NOTICE REDUCED TO LEVEL 1 BY THE GRANT COUNTY SHERRIFF S OFFICE: Residents in the following area of Dog Creek Road are affected; 2 miles South of Hwy 26 to the Northern fire perimeter, West of Dissel Creek, East of Little Dog Creek. Residents are advised to be fire ready, pay close attention to updates from the Grant County Sherriff’s Office, and be prepared to evacuate should…
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 PDT wrote it up.
LEVEL 2 EVACUATION NOTICE REDUCED TO LEVEL 1 BY THE GRANT COUNTY SHERRIFF S OFFICE: Residents in the following area of Dog Creek Road are affected; 2 miles South of Hwy 26 to the Northern fire perimeter, West of Dissel Creek, East of Little Dog Creek. Residents are advised to be fire ready, pay close attention to updates from the Grant County Sherriff’s Office, and be prepared to evacuate should the need arise.
On the fire
A low-pressure system is sitting over the Pacific Northwest bringing lower temperatures and higher humidity to the fire area. A stronger system moving through Wednesday and Thursday will bring a good chance of rain.
Smoke from the interior of the fire will remain visible in many areas until a season ending event, such as steady rain over a long period of time or the formation of winter snow pack, arrives. Firefighters will focus their efforts on any heat near containment lines or residential areas while monitoring interior fire activity.
Aircraft will continue aerial suppression today, working in close coordination with ground resources to take advantage of the cooling weather to continue extinguishing hotspots. Aircraft will no longer be using the blue Thermo-Gel and will be switching exclusively to water. The Thermo-Gel remains effective where it has been applied and is reactivated when contacted by moisture.
When traveling through the fire area it is important to remember that many hazards remain in the burned areas. Fire weakened trees can topple easily, large ash pits can appear cool but hold significant heat well into the winter, and burned out root holes can lead to twisted knees and ankles.
The Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team is done with initial evaluations and is working on implementing mitigations.
Open and closed
Malheur National Forest has area and road closures in the fire area. The closure boundary is currently being assessed for modification. The Starr Ridge and Parish Cabin Campgrounds are now open to the public as well as the FS Road 15 from the junction of County Road 65 to the junction of FS Road 16. IFPL III and Public Use Restrictions B are in effect. Public Use Restrictions B regulates campfires, use of combustion engines, chainsaws, smoking, and off-road and off-trail vehicle travel.
Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT): Highway 395 is open for two-way travel. A pilot car may be on site to lead traffic in specific areas between 6 am and 4:30 pm.
Grant County Sheriff’s Office reminds people to be respectful of private property and to remain on the road unless invited. Trespassing is punishable by law and violators will be prosecuted.
Update: Incident contained and controlled on November 5, 2015 at 1045.
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 Aug 31, 9:54 PM PST, 2 hours 6 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 1054 PM PDT MON AUG 31 2015 UPDATED AVIATION DISCUSSION .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...SATELLITE WATER VAPOR IMAGERY LOOP SHOWS A LONG WAVE TROUGH CENTERED ALONG 130W WITH A SERIES OF DISTURBANCES MOVING THROUGH THE LONG WAVE MID/UPPER LEVEL CYCLONIC CIRCULATION ASSOCIATED WITH THE LONG WAVE TROUGH. THE FIRST ONE MOVING THROUGH SOUTHERN BC IS DRAGGING MID AND HIGH CLOUDS ACROSS THE CWA THIS EVENING. ANOTHER ONE IS POISED TO ROUND THE BASE OF THE LONG WAVE TROUGH NEAR 131W AND HAS A DRIER AIR MASS ASSOCIATED WITH IT, AND YET ANOTHER ONE, THE STRONGEST BY FAR, NEAR 57N/141W IN THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA. THE LAST DISTURBANCE WILL DROP DOWN THE WESTERN FLANK OF THE LONG WAVE TROUGH OVER THE NEXT 36 HOURS, THUS DIGGING THE LONG WAVE TROUGH FARTHER SOUTH AND ALLOWING WEAK DYNAMIC LIFT TO ENTER THE FORECAST AREA ON WEDNESDAY IN COMBINATION WITH OROGRAPHIC LIFT OVER THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS FOR A CHANCE OF SHOWERS DURING THE DAY ON WEDNESDAY IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS AND ALONG THE EAST SLOPES OF THE CASCADES. DRY CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST ELSEWHERE FOR TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. POLAN .AVIATION...06Z TAFS...VFR CONDITIONS WILL OCCUR WITH DRY WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT AND ONLY SCT-BKN200 CLOUDS AND LIGHT SFC WINDS OVERNIGHT. SKIES WILL CLEAR BY MIDDAY ON TUESDAY FOLLOWED BY SCT200-250 LATE IN THE AFTERNOON. WINDS WILL BE VERY LIGHT FOR REMAINDER OF TONIGHT AT KRDM AND KBDN WITH WINDS AROUND 10 KTS AT KDLS. THE REST OF THE TAF SITES WILL HAVE DRAINAGE WINDS OF 5-10 KTS OVERNIGHT. WINDS INCREASE LATE TUESDAY MORNING, BECOMING 10-15 KTS WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 20 KTS BY 19Z AND THESE WINDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON, THEN SLOWLY DECREASING AFTER SUNSET. POLAN && .PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 212 PM PDT MON AUG 31 2015/ SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...A BROAD UPPER LEVEL TROUGH OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WITH A WESTERLY FLOW WILL KEEP MOST OF THE FORECAST AREA DRY EXCEPT FOR SOME SHOWERS ALONG THE CASCADE CREST THROUGH TUESDAY. THEN SOME ENERGY DROPPING INTO THE TROUGH WILL LEAD TO THE TROUGH DIGGING SOUTHWARD TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. THIS WILL PUSH A COLD FRONT TROUGH THE FORECAST AREA WITH A BAND OF PRECIPITATION ASSOCIATED WITH IT TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. THE PRECIPITATION IS LIKELY TO SKIP OVER THE LOWER ELEVATIONS BUT THE MOUNTAINS COULD END UP SEEING SOME LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS. BY THURSDAY THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH IS SETTLING OVER THE REGION BUT THERE IS SOME MODEL UNCERTAINTY. HAVE INDICATED A TREND TOWARDS MORE SHOWER ACTIVITY THURSDAY BELIEVING THE INCREASED INSTABILITY ASSOCIATED WITH THE TROUGH WILL LEAD TO A BETTER CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION ACROSS MOST OF THE FORECAST AREA. HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL BEGIN TO COOL ON WEDNESDAY AND BY THURSDAY WILL BE 10 TO 15 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. LONG TERM...THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY...ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN THROUGH PERIOD AND MODELS NOT IN AGREEMENT BEGINNING SUNDAY. UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE AREA TO DROP SOUTH FROM BC INTO PAC NW ON FRIDAY. THAT MUCH MODELS AGREE UPON. THIS WILL BRING UNSETTLED...COOLER...AND SHOWERY CONDITIONS INTO ALL AREAS FOR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. ENOUGH INSTABILITY FOR THUNDERSTORMS FRIDAY. BY SUNDAY...GFS OPENS UPPER LOW INTO A WAVE AND EJECTS INTO IDAHO AND MONTANA...WHILE GFS/CANADIAN HAVE STRONG JET LEVEL WINDS DIVING SOUTH ON WEST SIDE OF LOW AND KEEPING IT ANCHORED OVER SOUTHERN OREGON FOR ABOUT 12-18 HOURS LONGER BEFORE MOVING EAST. SO WITH THIS IN MIND I HAVE KEPT CHANCE POPS GOING LONGER ACROSS EASTERN ZONES...ESPECIALLY WALLOWA COUNTY TO ACCOUNT FOR POSSIBLE WRAPAROUND MOISTURE AFTER LOW MOVES INTO ID/MT. IF EC/CANADIAN MODELS PROVE CORRECT...SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION COULD OCCUR. FOR NOW WILL JUST INCREASE POPS UNTIL MODELS COME INTO AGREEMENT. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... PDT 52 79 55 72 / 0 0 20 20 ALW 59 80 60 75 / 0 0 20 20 PSC 58 83 58 76 / 0 0 10 10 YKM 51 75 51 71 / 10 10 10 10 HRI 55 81 57 75 / 0 0 10 10 ELN 53 77 52 71 / 10 10 20 20 RDM 42 78 46 70 / 0 0 10 10 LGD 48 82 48 71 / 0 0 10 20 GCD 46 85 48 72 / 0 0 10 20 DLS 59 80 58 75 / 0 10 20 20 && .PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...NONE. WA...NONE. && FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT... WWW.WEATHER.GOV/PENDLETON 99/91/79
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
Inciweb.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, September 2015
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: 594408.