A wildfire began on July 15th 5 miles east of Sage Junction south of Highway 33 due to exploding targets from gunfire practice. It was near Menan Butte.
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 PIH wrote it up.
A wildfire began on July 15th 5 miles east of Sage Junction south of Highway 33 due to exploding targets from gunfire practice. It was near Menan Butte. The fire grew to around 1,000 acres over grass and brush. Highway 33 was closed for a short time.
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 Jul 15, 12:30 PM MST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pocatello ID 130 PM MDT Sun Jul 15 2018 .DISCUSSION...A little moist sub tropical air moving north through Nevada this afternoon will combine with a disturbance approaching from the Oregon/Nevada border area to produce some isolated thunderstorm activity overnight from Oakley north to Stanley. This activity advances into the Snake Plain Monday morning, while loosing some instability, decreasing lightning as it does. Expect it will loose organization during the day, resulting in showers/thunderstorms over the mountain areas, including the southern highlands as well as Monida Pass to Island Park. By Tuesday morning, the tail end of these showers will be exiting east of the state. Model outlooks for the rest of the week are currently dry. Although both current and future model runs may show a hint of instability along the Idaho/Utah border with monsoon moisture occasionally brushing that area. cloud cover will trim a few degrees off temperatures on Monday, otherwise valley temperatures should be in the lower to middle 90s through next weekend. RS && .AVIATION...Main focus through the period will be convection associated with mid-level shortwave this evening through tomorrow morning. NAM favors a wetter pattern while GFS is drier overall. Best chance for thunder will be BYI and SUN tonight with showers possible around sunrise at PIH, IDA and DIJ. Sites should remain VFR through the period. Hinsberger && .FIRE WEATHER...Still low confidence in sufficient thunderstorm coverage to warrant a red flag tonight. A mid-level shortwave will make its way across the forecast area tomorrow, which will be the focus of convective activity. Greater cloud cover spreading across southeast and Central Idaho should keep temperatures down. Main thing to watch for is early evening convection with models suggesting deep convection along our southern border as well as around Monida Pass and the Island Park area. These areas of convection coincide with PW over 1.00 inches, so wetting rain potential could curtail critical fire concerns. A drier weather pattern will prevail for much of the rest of the week. Temperatures should be in the low to mid 90s with humidity bottoming out around 15 to 20 percent. Hinsberger && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...None. &&
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
A wildfire began on July 15th 5 miles east of Sage Junction south of Highway 33 due to exploding targets from gunfire practice. It was near Menan Butte. The fire grew to around 1,000 acres over grass and brush. Highway 33 was closed for a short time.
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, July 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: 776814.