The Sunland fire, a human caused wildfire, grew to 1,912 acres in Grant County near the Gorge Amphitheater. Sheriff's deputies determined boaters sparked the fire when they came onshore to have lunch.
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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 OTX wrote it up.
The Sunland fire, a human caused wildfire, grew to 1,912 acres in Grant County near the Gorge Amphitheater. Sheriff's deputies determined boaters sparked the fire when they came onshore to have lunch. Their campfire near the Columbia River spread into some brush and got out of control when the winds picked up.
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 May 28, 9:32 PM PST, 2 hours 28 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 1032 PM PDT SAT MAY 28 2016 .SYNOPSIS... The Memorial Day weekend will be cool and locally breezy. Scattered showers are expected to impact the Idaho Panhandle and northeast Washington at times over the holiday weekend. Sunday's system will also produce wind gusts of 20 to 30 mph during the afternoon and evening along the East Slopes of the Cascades into the Columbia Basin. Warmer weather will develop by Wednesday and carry into next weekend. && .DISCUSSION... Evening update: forecast is on track. I made some minor adjustments to cloud cover and the threat of showers threat through the night. The shower threat was expanded further south across Stevens/Pend Oreille county into the upper Columbia Basin, mainly north of Highway 2, and at least through the the early night across the eastern Waterville Plateau. I wouldn't rule out some sprinkles further south but the risk is rather slim. Either way the entire shower threat tonight looks isolated and precipitation amounts should be light. The cold front then pushes in Sunday from the west, with a better shower threat and winds picking up through the late morning and afternoon /J. Cote' && .AVIATION... 06Z TAFS: The next system swings into the region over the next 24 hours. Tonight the leading shower threat will be found over the northern mountains and far northern Columbia Basin. TAF sites will main see middle to high clouds, though some stray sprinkles cannot be ruled out near GEG to COE around overnight. Sunday the main cold front/trough swings in, with a threat of showers around the mountains and eastern TAF sites in the afternoon. There will also be a threat of thunderstorms, but the risk will mainly be north and east of the TAF sites. Winds increase again Sunday, especially after midday. Gusts near 20-35kts are possible, strongest late near the EAT. The shower threat and winds will then start to abate after 02-04Z, but will be slowest again near the Cascades. /J. Cote' && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Spokane 46 68 44 69 45 75 / 10 20 10 10 10 0 Coeur d'Alene 45 68 44 69 43 73 / 10 20 10 20 10 0 Pullman 45 68 43 67 42 72 / 0 10 0 10 0 0 Lewiston 49 75 50 75 49 81 / 0 10 0 10 0 0 Colville 45 69 43 72 42 80 / 20 30 20 20 10 0 Sandpoint 43 65 43 67 39 73 / 10 40 20 20 20 0 Kellogg 42 65 43 64 39 71 / 10 20 20 20 20 0 Moses Lake 49 75 46 76 45 82 / 10 10 0 0 0 0 Wenatchee 51 73 49 75 54 81 / 10 10 0 0 0 0 Omak 47 72 45 76 49 81 / 20 20 0 0 0 0 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...None. WA...None. &&
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
No one was injured and no homes were lost, so sheriff’s deputies did not expect to file any charges against the boaters who started this wildfire. Agency reports note cost of $75,000 associated with suppression.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, May 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: 655804.