This complex of lightning caused wildfires burned 26,068 acres and cots over $25 million dollars to suppress.
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 OTX wrote it up.
This complex of lightning caused wildfires burned 26,068 acres and cots over $25 million dollars to suppress.
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 Aug 17, 9:33 PM PST, 2 hours 27 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 1033 PM PDT MON AUG 17 2015 .SYNOPSIS... Expect smokey conditions with a warming trend through Wednesday across the Inland Northwest. Wednesday is expected to be the warmest day of the week with high temperatures in the 90s for most of the region. A fast moving cold front will likely arrive late Thursday bringing windy conditions to eastern Washington and portions of northern Idaho. Gusty winds may continue into Friday evening which could contribute to increased wildfire growth. Friday and Saturday may also see some showers and isolated thunder in the northeast mountains of Washington and the Idaho Panhandle. && .DISCUSSION... ...Locally dense smoke through Wednesday morning... Tonight through Tuesday: Northwest flow has established over the region with some cloud cover hovering over the mountains of northeast Washington and the Idaho Panhandle. At this time it does not look as if these clouds will develop into showers of any magnitude as the air mass was becoming more stable aloft with high pressure slowly building in from the west. More importantly is to take a look at the smoke enveloping the region from recent fire activity. Latest visible satellite imagery shows fires still pumping out plenty of smoke to replenished the region with particulates so smoke will stay in the forecast for the short term through Wednesday. Tracking surface winds and winds aloft and even consulting some particulate models it appears higher concentrations of smoke will remain near the east slopes of the Cascades, Okanogan valley and central Basin. Locally near fires smoke could reduce visibility to less than a mile. Farther downstream from fires pockets of visibility around 3 miles will be common toward Tuesday morning especially in the aforementioned areas. Other areas impacted by more dense concentrations of smoke would be southeast Washington around Lewiston/Clarkston and even the Spokane Region toward Tuesday morning. Increased stability Tuesday as high pressure builds over the area won't help the smoke situation. Smoke that has settled will take longer to lift out of the lowest valleys. There will be a breeze down the Okanogan valley from the north Tuesday so this may push the smoke south Omak with some relief. Points south into the east slopes of the Cascades and Basin will still be in thicker smoke. Groups sensitive to smoke particulates should take precautions as areas will remain in the unhealthy range for air quality possibly into Thursday. Wednesday and Thursday: ...Hotter, Drier with Increased Wind... Wednesday we wait for the approach of a cold front out of the northwest. West to southwest winds will increase nearing 15 mph especially along the Cascade east slopes and Central Basin Wednesday afternoon with temperatures in the middle 90s. This will likely provide an environment conducive to fire growth with increased heat, instability and wind so caution is advised in this weather pattern change. Thursday west winds increase even more as the cold front begins moving into the region. There will be some slight cooling by Thursday afternoon versus Wednesday but not much. Again, Thursday's weather environment will provide potential for fire growth. With the increase in wind there will be some relief from the smoke but increased fire activity may negate this somewhat in the end. TC Thursday Night through Friday Night: The models are in pretty good agreement with the timing of the trough/cold front to approach the Inland Northwest Thursday night/Friday morning. Thursday evening will be quite active with pre frontal winds across the Cascade gaps and into portions of the Waterville Plateau and the Columbia Basin. This brings a concern for blowing dust as winds could be 20 to 25 mph with higher gusts possible. Have added some patchy blowing dust to the forecast for Thursday evening and will carry it into Friday afternoon. The westerly winds will remain elevated all night for the aforementioned areas and spread into the Palouse and Spokane areas...with northerly winds beginning to be funneled down the Okanogan valley as well. West to northwest winds will continue on Friday with speeds of 15 to 25 mph likely and gusts up to 35 mph. Models are showing some decent moisture moving in with the trough on Friday. Have increased cloud cover as well as lowered max temperatures a few more degrees. The GFS is showing some decent elevated instability parameters starting early friday across northern WA. Have added thunder into the forecast starting early Friday morning and carry that through the afternoon and into the evening hours. The best chance of thunder looks to be Friday afternoon across the ID panhandle. Saturday through Monday: The trough will continue its eastward progression into the Plains. A shortwave ridge builds over the Pac NW Saturday which will help to dry the atmosphere as well as decrease the winds by the afternoon. Temperatures will warm compared to Friday, but still be below average for this time of the year. By Sunday our flow switches to a west or southwest. This will bring temperatures back up to above average values for Sunday and Monday. It will be pretty dry so expecting mostly clear skies with no threat of showers or thunderstorms at this time. /Nisbet && .AVIATION... 06Z TAFS: The region will remain under a dry northwest flow pattern. The thick smoke and haze around the region will remain status quo for the most part. Much of the region will continue to see MVFR visibility with pockets of IFR visibility possible, especially for mountain valleys and over the western basin. The smoke will be thick at times between the 3-5 kft layer, which may produce some MVFR ceilings as well. Stronger drainage winds through the Okanogan Valley and out into the western basin may result in some improvement through the morning hours on Tuesday. /SVH && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Spokane 59 85 60 90 62 86 / 0 10 0 0 0 0 Coeur d'Alene 53 85 54 89 58 86 / 0 10 0 0 0 0 Pullman 52 84 51 90 55 84 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Lewiston 61 91 62 95 65 93 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Colville 55 89 55 92 55 90 / 0 10 0 0 0 0 Sandpoint 47 84 48 87 51 84 / 10 10 0 0 0 0 Kellogg 50 83 52 87 56 84 / 10 10 0 0 0 0 Moses Lake 57 92 58 96 60 92 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Wenatchee 66 95 67 96 69 89 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Omak 60 92 59 96 61 93 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...None. WA...None. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 1146 AM PDT MON AUG 17 2015 IDZ002-003-026-027-WAZ031>036-038-041>044-181900- COEUR D'ALENE AREA-IDAHO PALOUSE-LEWISTON AREA- LEWIS AND SOUTHERN NEZ PERCE COUNTIES-NORTHEAST BLUE MOUNTAINS- LOWER GARFIELD AND ASOTIN COUNTIES-WASHINGTON PALOUSE- MOSES LAKE AREA-UPPER COLUMBIA BASIN-SPOKANE AREA- OKANOGAN HIGHLANDS-WENATCHEE AREA-EAST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES- OKANOGAN VALLEY-WATERVILLE PLATEAU- 1146 AM PDT MON AUG 17 2015 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North Idaho... North Central Idaho...Central Washington...East Central Washington...North Central Washington...Northeast Washington and Southeast Washington. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT Areas of smoke across the region will keep air quality in the unhealthy category through much of the week. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY Breezy gap winds will develop in the Cascades late Wednesday. Then a vigorous cold front is expected to produce windy conditions Thursday night into Friday. At this time, it looks like sustained winds of 15 to 20 mph with gusts of 30 mph will be possible along the East Slopes of the Cascades, the Okanogan Valley, the Upper Columbia Basin, the Palouse and Spokane area Thursday night into Friday. IDZ001-004-WAZ037-181900- NORTHERN PANHANDLE-CENTRAL PANHANDLE MOUNTAINS- NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS- 1146 AM PDT MON AUG 17 2015 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North Idaho and Northeast Washington. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT Areas of smoke across the region will keep air quality in the unhealthy category through much of the week. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY A vigorous cold front has the potential to produce widely scattered thunderstorms and breezy winds on Friday. Confidence is growing that breezy winds will accompany the passage of the cold front Friday. Gusts of 25 mph or more will be possible over mountain ridges and other areas prone to west winds. The track and timing of the front, which is uncertain at this time, will influence the potential for lightning.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
This complex of lightning caused wildfires burned 26,068 acres and cost over $25 million dollars to suppress.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, August 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: 599522.