During the month of August several lightning caused wildfires began or became large after smoldering for the previous month. The Bridge Creek wildfire in Ferry County burned 3,711 acres, the Noisy Creek wildfire in Pend Oreille County burned 4,000 acres, and the North Fork Hughes wildfire on the border of Washington and Idaho in Pend Oreille County and Bonner County, ID consumed 4,975 acres.
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.
During the month of August several lightning caused wildfires began or became large after smoldering for the previous month. The Bridge Creek wildfire in Ferry County burned 3,711 acres, the Noisy Creek wildfire in Pend Oreille County burned 4,000 acres, and the North Fork Hughes wildfire on the border of Washington and Idaho in Pend Oreille County and Bonner County, ID consumed 4,975 acres. All of these fires were in unpopulated wilderness areas and no structures were lost.
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 8, 3:44 PM PST, 2 hours 16 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 444 PM PDT Tue Aug 8 2017 .SYNOPSIS... Wildfire smoke from fires in British Columbia, Montana and northern Washington trapped under an area of high pressure will persist through at least Saturday. A continuation of above normal temperatures with highs mainly in the 90s...and dry conditions are expected for most towns. There will be some threat for mainly afternoon mountain thunderstorms during the work week. Chances for showers and thunderstorms will increase by early next week along with a gradual cool down in temperatures as a significant weather system moves into the region. && .DISCUSSION... Tonight through Thursday...A nearly persistent weather pattern will continue into Thursday as a strong upper level ridge centered off the WA coast today slowly moves east...with the ridge axis over the Cascades on Thursday. This will keep a north-northwest flow aloft over the area with occasional very weak waves dropping into the area. Most areas will stay hot and dry with smoky/hazy skies persisting. Up through early this afternoon there was enough convective inhibition (CIN) to keep cumulus development in check over most of the region with the exception being the Pasayten Wilderness area north of the Methow Valley. RUC forecasts show the CIN diminishing as of 2 PM and would expect at least isolated thunderstorms to develop over the higher terrain of the Okanogan Highlands...NE WA Mountains...and the Idaho Panhandle into early this evening. Then after sunset convection will die down with the loss of daytime heating although some mid level moisture and instability lingers overnight over a broad area. Hard to pin down any one area where a nocturnal cell develops...but can not rule one out over most of Eastern Washington and north Idaho that could produce a brief shower or a stray lightning strike. With low confidence left the overnight and Wednesday morning forecast dry. Wednesday afternoon into Thursday looks like a near repeat of expected weather as today. JW Thursday night through Tuesday...The axis of the upper level ridge will hang out over Western Washington late Thursday and move over the Inland Northwest by Friday as our ridge finally begins to break down over the weekend and into next week. This period will see a transition to a cooler and less smoky regime for eastern Washington and North Idaho. As the low in the Gulf of Alaska moves east, Friday will begin the transition into this new cooler pattern. Winds will change from northwest to southwest, which will bring more moisture and instability into the region on Friday and help start to clear the smoke. The main focus for instability and thunderstorms will be over the Cascades, though the northern mountains could also see some activity. Beyond Friday we'll slowly begin our cool down closer to normal temperatures. Intermittent mountain thunderstorms will be possible on Saturday and Sunday, mainly in the Idaho Panhandle mountains on Sunday. As this low pressure approaches, if the GFS has its way, we could see some gusty winds through the Cascade gaps on Sunday, but significant model differences are still present and this will have to be honed in as we get closer. Either way, if you're suffering from the ever present smoke, our shift in wind direction should help to clear out the smoke. For next week, the details of just how this pattern change takes place are very uncertain. There is high confidence that we will see a cool down into the 80s and a wind shift to clear out the smoke, but the precipitation is less certain. The EC wants to cut off this low and keep it spinning over the Pacific Northwest all next week which would bring more rain into the region. The GFS, however, is more progressive with the passage of the low and quickly brings in another weak ridge by mid week. The 12Z GFS ensemble as well as the EC ensemble have both come in more progressive, which leads me to hold back on going all out with widespread precip just yet. /bw && .AVIATION... 00Z TAFS: Regional fires will produce smokey and hazy skies for the next several days. Surface visibility will occasionally drop as low as 3-5 miles in some locations...particularly during the morning hours. Isolated showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop through the late afternoon and evening over the mountains of northern Washington and north Idaho...but shouldn't impact any of the TAF sites. /SVH && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Spokane 67 94 67 95 65 95 / 10 10 10 10 0 10 Coeur d'Alene 61 93 61 94 60 95 / 10 10 10 10 0 10 Pullman 56 94 56 94 59 95 / 10 10 10 10 0 10 Lewiston 64 100 64 100 67 101 / 10 10 10 10 0 10 Colville 56 94 56 95 57 98 / 20 10 10 10 10 10 Sandpoint 55 91 55 91 57 92 / 20 10 10 10 10 10 Kellogg 57 90 57 91 59 90 / 10 10 10 10 10 10 Moses Lake 62 100 62 100 63 100 / 10 10 10 10 0 0 Wenatchee 67 97 67 98 70 98 / 10 0 10 10 10 10 Omak 67 98 67 99 65 99 / 10 10 10 10 10 10 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...None. WA...None. &&
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Spokane WA 530 AM PDT Tue Aug 8 2017 IDZ001>004-026-027-WAZ031>038-041>044-091400- Northern Panhandle-Coeur d'Alene Area-Idaho Palouse- Central Panhandle Mountains-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- Northeast Mountains-Okanogan Highlands-Wenatchee Area- East Slopes Northern Cascades-Okanogan Valley-Waterville Plateau- 530 AM PDT Tue Aug 8 2017 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...TONIGHT No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY No hazardous weather is expected at this time.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The lightning caused Bridge Creek fire burned 3,711 acres of timber on the Colville tribal reservation during the month of August. Some road closures were imposed due to firefighting activity, but no structures were lost and no injuries were reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, August 2017
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: 717511.