The Peterson Hollow Wildfire started in Utah on August 22nd and crossed into Idaho on August 24th. It increased to 1,121 acres and closures included the Beaver Creek and Sink Hollow Trails in both Utah and Idaho.
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 PIH wrote it up.
The Peterson Hollow Wildfire started in Utah on August 22nd and crossed into Idaho on August 24th. It increased to 1,121 acres and closures included the Beaver Creek and Sink Hollow Trails in both Utah and Idaho. Gibson Basin (FS Road 466), FS Road 316, and FS Road 411.
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 Pocatello, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 24, 2:20 AM MST, 2 hours 40 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pocatello ID 320 AM MDT WED AUG 24 2016 .SHORT TERM...Today through Friday. A storm will drop south and east into the Northern Rockies and Great Basin through tomorrow. Besides bringing cooler weather our way, this will bring back a chance of showers and isolated thunderstorms to portions of eastern Idaho. The best chance through tonight will be north of a Stanley-Blackfoot-Wayan line. The models are showing a better chance of storms across the Upper Plain likely due to outflows and also a back-door cold front. It does appear that despite the front moving farther southwest through the area, the chance of precipitation quickly shuts off but that is something to watch. Sometimes the models don't handle these scenarios very well. A similar scenario sets up tomorrow although the chance looks a little less overall. By Friday, only isolated coverage is expected from around Copper Basin to Monida and Island Park, as well as along the Wyoming border south to around Driggs. We will see an overall wind shift to a north or northwest direction today and north to northeast overnight with the front. Winds be strongest overnight actually and Thursday morning as the gradient tightens up a bit. At this point, we are just shy of a Lake Wind Advisory for American Falls Reservoir for a northeast wind pattern. Going back to temperatures, we should stay rather steady with 70s/near 80 in the lower valleys with 50s and 60s in the mountains. It will be chilly in some areas at night. Keyes .LONG TERM...Friday Night through next Wednesday. We eventually switch back to a warmer southwest flow over the weekend and early next week. The potential for any more showers and storms will be determined on how the storm offshore evolves and when it moves inland. The GFS holds it back to the west and we end up pretty dry and warmer. The ECMWF brings it to our door by next week and therefore a chance of precipitation. The previous idea was to keep it pretty dry except for a 10-15% chance of mountain storms. We saw nothing that would push the forecast one way or the other, so it was left as it was. Keyes && .AVIATION...Expect VFR conditions at most TAF sites although we will likely have to contend with some variations in visibilty at KDIJ and perhaps KIDA due to nearby fires. The models do show the potential for -SHRA/-TSRA at KDIJ and KIDA as well later this afternoon and evening, lingering at KDIJ all night. It's possible that storm could get close enough to KSUN as well. Winds will gradually shift to north/northwest this afternoon and northeast overnight as a cold front moves in from the north. Expect 10-20 kts winds at times from this afternoon through Thursday morning. KSUN may end up with a decent south wind today, switching briefly to northwest this evening. It remains to be seen if it will stay northwest or go variable as sometimes can happen in a northeast gradient pattern. Keyes && .FIRE WEATHER...Low pressure disturbance is moving south from Montana today. N-NE surface winds already showing up in the Arco Desert this morning and will gradually take over the Salmon-Challis Forest area and all of the Middle and Upper Snake Plain by this evening. For the Caribou Highlands, general winds over the ridge tops will become northerly tonight as well, but lower slopes will be more easterly or drainage driven. The risk of isolated thunderstorms this afternoon is further south to about a Sun Valley to Idaho Falls line and possibly as far south as Blackfoot this evening. Rainfall amounts are only trace to 0.03 inches. Thursday, the disturbance slides south and east with a slight chance of afternoon thunderstorms mainly over the Central mountains and eastern highlands. some clearing of skies in the afternoon will help westerly surface winds to return particularly in the Middle Snake River Valley. There may be a few lingering showers near Island Park on Friday, otherwise northwest to west winds bring dry conditions and temperatures warming into the weekend. Upper 80s expected in the Snake Plain again by Monday. RS && .PIH Watches/Warnings/Advisories... None. &&
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Peterson Hollow Wildfire started in Utah on August 22nd and crossed into Idaho on August 24th. It increased to 1,121 acres and closures included the Beaver Creek and Sink Hollow Trails in both Utah and Idaho. Gibson Basin (FS Road 466), FS Road 316, and FS Road 411.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, August 2016
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: 658691.