The Highway 8 fire is burning in grassland and in various canyons approximately three miles north/northwest of Roosevelt, WA in Klickitat County. The fire was reported on August 4, 2015 at approximately 1:00pm (pacific time).
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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.
The Highway 8 fire is burning in grassland and in various canyons approximately three miles north/northwest of Roosevelt, WA in Klickitat County. The fire was reported on August 4, 2015 at approximately 1:00pm (pacific time). Local firefighters, and landowners initially provided suppression efforts but the fire quickly grew due to the fuel type, dry conditions, hot temperatures, and strong wind. Southeast Washington Incident Management Team (Type III Team), took command and a state mobilization was put into place for additional resources. Due to the complexity of the incident, Washington Incident Team Three (Type II Team) is currently managing the fire. The team is still working closely with Klickitat Fire District 9, Klickitat Fire District 10, Klickitat Fire District 2 and other local agencies.
Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office has evacuations in place as of August 8, 2015 and Klickitat County Office of Emergency Management has notified affected residents.
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 4, 1:30 PM PST, 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 230 PM PDT TUE AUG 4 2015 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...COMPLICATED WEATHER PATTERN. THERE IS AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER BRITISH COLUMBIA AND AN UPPER LEVEL LOW OFF THE COAST OF CALIFORNIA. COMBINED THEY ARE PRODUCING A WEST TO SOUTHWEST FLOW ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. A PIECE OF ENERGY IS BREAKING AWAY FROM THE COASTAL LOW AND WILL MOVE INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA LATE TODAY AND THEN INTO SOUTHERN IDAHO ON WEDNESDAY WITH ITS PATH CUTTING ACROSS SOUTHEAST OREGON OVERNIGHT AND EARLY WEDNESDAY. THIS WILL ADD A LITTLE KICK TO THE ATMOSPHERE AND HELP PRODUCE SOME SHOWERS AND POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS FROM EASTERN DESCHUTES COUNTY TO WALLOWA COUNTY OVERNIGHT. THE BRITISH COLUMBIA LOW WILL MOVE FURTHER SOUTHWARD OVERNIGHT AND WEDNESDAY BRINGING SOME COOLER DRY AIR INTO THE FORECAST AREA WITH TEMPERATURES DROPPING 5 TO 10 DEGREES. ON THURSDAY THIS LOW WILL MOVE EAST ALONG THE CANADIAN BORDER AS A FLAT RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE BEGINS BUILDING BACK INTO THE REGION FROM THE WEST. THIS WILL KEEP THE COOL DRY CONDITIONS IN PLACE. BY FRIDAY THE FLAT RIDGE WILL BE OVER THE REGION BUT THE CALIFORNIA COASTAL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL BEGIN MOVING INLAND INTO CENTRAL AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. SOME MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS COULD REACH SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL OREGON FOR A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND OR THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. .LONG TERM...FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...FRIDAY NIGHT WILL SEE AN UPPER LOW HEADING SOUTH ALONG THE NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA COAST AND A WEAK WAVE IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. THIS WILL GIVE US A SOUTHERLY FLOW OF MOISTURE INTO THE AREA AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FROM CENTRAL OREGON SOUTH OF MADRAS AND IN THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS THAT WILL TAPER OFF IN THE LATE EVENING. SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY WILL SEE THE UPPER LOW SLOWLY SINK SOUTH ALONG THE BRITISH COLUMBIA COAST AND ENDING UP OFF THE OLYMPIC PENINSULA ON MONDAY AND THEN MOVE ASHORE OVER THE OLYMPIC PENINSULA ON TUESDAY. OUR AREA WILL BE UNDER A TROUGH THROUGH THIS PERIOD WITH A SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST FLOW OVER THE AREA. THIS FLOW WILL CARRY MOISTURE INTO THE AREA AND ALONG WITH INSTABILITY FROM DAYTIME HEATING WILL GIVE CENTRAL OREGON, THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS AND THE CASCADES A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING, TAPERING OFF TO SHOWERS IN THE LATE EVENING. SUNDAY WILL SEE GREATER MOISTURE OVER THE AREA AND THE SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL EXPAND INTO IN THE BLUE MOUNTAIN FOOTHILLS. TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR NORMAL WITH HIGHS IN THE MID 80S TO LOWER 90S WITH 70S AND LOWER 80S IN THE MOUNTAINS. PERRY && .AVIATION...PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...18Z TAFS...VFR CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES WILL SEE SCATTERED CUMULUS DEVELOP AT 7000-10000 FEET AGL IN AND NEAR THE MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON AFFECTING KRDM, KBDN, KALW AND POSSIBLY KPDT. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE IN SOUTHERN DESCHUTES COUNTY AND OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS BUT SHOULD NOT APPROACH ANY TAF SITES. SMOKE FROM A FIRE IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS MAY BE CARRIED INTO KALW BY NIGHT TIME PREVAILING SE WINDS. WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 10 TO 18 KTS WITH GUSTS TO 25 KTS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AT MOST TAF SITES. KPDT WITH REACH 15 TO 20 KTS WITH GUSTS TO 30 KTS AND KDLS WILL REACH 20 TO 25 KTS WITH GUSTS TO 35 KTS. WINDS WILL DECREASE IN THE LATE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT BEFORE BEGINNING TO INCREASE AGAIN TOMORROW MORNING AFTER 16Z. PERRY && .FIRE WEATHER...RED FLAG WARNINGS REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR THE LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN AND THE EASTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE THROUGH 9 PM. HOWEVER...RED FLAG CONDITIONS ARE NOT WIDESPREAD. I CONSIDERED DROPPING THE WARNING BUT DECIDE AGAINST THIS AS THERE ARE SOME OBSERVATIONS MEETING CRITERIA THIS AFTERNOON. ANOTHER MARGINAL SITUATION IS EXPECTED ON WEDNESDAY. IT WILL BE BREEZY TO WINDY WITH RH'S AROUND 15-25 PERCENT IN THE LOWER COLUMBIA BASIN AND SURROUNDING VALLEYS. ANOTHER FIRE CONCERN IS THE THUNDERSTORM THREAT TONIGHT. THE SHORTWAVE TRACKING ACROSS SOUTHEAST OREGON WILL BRING THUNDERSTORMS TO OUR FAR SOUTHERN ZONES...AND LAL'S WILL BE 2-3 IN FAR SOUTHERN 642 OVER NORTHERN HARNEY COUNTY TONIGHT. THERE MAY ALSO BE ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVERNIGHT IN NORTHERN BAKER AND WALLOWA COUNTY (FIRE ZONE 645). SURFACE AND ELEVATED INSTABILITY ARE LIMITED...SO BELIEVE IT WILL PRIMARILY BE A FEW SHOWERS WITH ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS THAT DO NOT WARRANT A RED FLAG WARNING. WISTER && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... PDT 60 84 55 83 / 0 0 0 0 ALW 66 85 61 84 / 0 0 0 0 PSC 61 88 59 87 / 0 0 0 0 YKM 58 81 54 82 / 0 0 0 0 HRI 62 86 57 85 / 0 0 0 0 ELN 61 79 56 83 / 0 0 10 0 RDM 48 80 41 82 / 10 0 0 0 LGD 50 80 49 80 / 20 10 0 0 GCD 54 84 47 85 / 20 10 0 0 DLS 63 81 60 88 / 0 0 0 0 && .PDT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 9 PM PDT THIS EVENING FOR ORZ639-641. WA...RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 9 PM PDT THIS EVENING FOR WAZ639-641-675. && 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.
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: 587361.