A 2,500 acre wild fire began on August 16th on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation east of interstate 15. 50 homes had to be evacuated as the fire spread rapidly.
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The episode as NWS PIH wrote it up.
A 2,500 acre wild fire began on August 16th on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation east of interstate 15. 50 homes had to be evacuated as the fire spread rapidly.
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 16, 12:47 PM MST, 2 hours 13 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pocatello ID 147 PM MDT Thu Aug 16 2018 .SHORT TERM...Tonight through Sunday. Main short term impact will be effects of thunderstorms through Saturday morning. The biggest threat will be Friday as upper level system and cold front work through eastern Idaho with the most widespread coverage expected Friday afternoon and evening. There is a possibility some storms may reach severe levels Friday with wind gusts the main threat. Tonight most coverage will be in southern highlands although isolated storms are possible anywhere. Thunderstorms should end Saturday with most coverage in the eastern highlands. Sunday will be dry with an upper level ridge pushing over the region. Temperatures should be near seasonal normals and even slightly below high temperatures Saturday and Sunday. GK .LONG TERM...Monday through Thursday. European model is mainly dry but the GFS has some showers Monday so included mountain thunderstorms but trended toward dry conditions Tuesday through Thursday. GFS did continue with threat Tuesday but for now not prone to make significant changes to grids and kept the dry forecast going. Temperatures will be above normal in the long term again. GK && .AVIATION...VFR conditions are expected to persist through the period, despite an increase in mid-level clouds through this evening. The increase in monsoonal moisture across southern Idaho will lead to development of showers and thunderstorms, but coverage should primarily be isolated. These could impact KBYI this evening, but will likely avoid all other ports. Outside of any isolated thunderstorm, surface flow will largely remain light and variable. Quiet conditions are expected overnight with some clearing expected. A better chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms will come when the better forcing arrives Friday afternoon/evening just beyond the current TAF period. Would expect potential of brief restrictions in this activity Friday evening. TAX && .FIRE WEATHER... Moisture continues to increase across the area as surface dewpoints push into the 30s and 40s. This increase in humidity will fuel primarily isolated showers and thunderstorms this afternoon/evening. Activity will continue to increase from the southwest and could become scattered in nature across Fire Weather Zone 427. Thus, will continue the Red Flag Warning this evening there. Elsewhere, coverage should remain limited enough to exclude from RFWs. From a forecast standpoint, little has changed heading into Friday. The moist and unstable airmass will continue to overspread the area into Friday, ahead of a broader low pressure system. After a quiet weather morning, coverage of showers and thunderstorms will increase in the afternoon/evening hours to at least scattered in nature. While thunderstorms could impact most locations, the focus of higher potential remains from the central Idaho mountains east towards the Montana/Idaho border. Will convert the Fire Weather Watches over to Red Flag Warnings for all zones areawide, save for zone 411 which has not reached critical fuels. Precipitation chances will carry into Saturday, but should largely be relegated to the morning hours. Breezy conditions are expected behind the passing frontal system, but the cooler temperatures will preclude any need for Red Flag extensions. Sunday sees the return of the upper level ridge and end to thunderstorms. Low pressure moving through Montana though will bring back a shower and thunderstorm threat as early as Monday. TAX .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Red Flag Warning from noon to 11 PM MDT Friday for IDZ410-413- 422-425-475-476. Red Flag Warning until 11 PM MDT Friday for IDZ427. &&
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
A 2,500 acre wild fire began on August 16th on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation east of interstate 15. 50 homes had to be evacuated as the fire spread rapidly.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, August 2018
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: 779861.