Fire began at around 4 pm MDT on September 19th on private land and quickly spread to 911 acres before being contained. It burned in grass, brush and maples on steep ground.
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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 PIH wrote it up.
Fire began at around 4 pm MDT on September 19th on private land and quickly spread to 911 acres before being contained. It burned in grass, brush and maples on steep ground. The fire was 100 percent contained on September 20th.
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 Sep 19, 1:28 PM MST, 1 hour 52 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pocatello ID 228 PM MDT Wed Sep 19 2018 .SHORT TERM...Tonight through Friday night A cold front tonight will bring scattered showers to central Idaho with only isolated activity elsewhere. The driving shortwave trough axis approaching western Idaho will push through the region tonight dragging a relatively dry cold front with it. The dry air is evident on the multi-layered water vapor imagery this afternoon, pushing through central NV into southeast ID. Winds will pick up in the cold advection behind the front tonight, but model trends have favored a weaker trough, and thus weaker mixing of surface winds. A return to dry conditions is expected for Thursday, save for our extreme northeastern zone near Island Park. A few lingering showers and clouds are possible here through about midday. Dry zonal flow will clear skies across the region, and moderate temperatures heading into the early weekend. TAX .LONG TERM...Saturday through Wednesday Dry weather is expected through much of the weekend, although the next cold front is poised to move into our northwest by Sunday afternoon. The upper-level flow amplifies Saturday allowing heights to build through the region. For this reason, the forecast has been trended towards the bullishly warm MEX guidance, especially in the favored downslope areas of the Snake Plain. Sunday temperatures and resulting RH values will be tricky, depending ultimately on the timing of the front. Confidence in the overall pattern next week is waning. Guidance remains fairly consistent on digging a deep trough into the western US after Sunday's cold front. The problem has been the placement of the trough and resultant weather it sets up for us. There will be a cool down for Monday and perhaps Tuesday, but the big pattern shift that was discussed 24-48 hrs ago appears fairly transient with cool and dry weather giving way to another warmup towards the middle of next week. How strong of a warmup remains to be seen. TAX && .AVIATION...A Cold Front is forecast to cross SE Idaho this evening, reaching a BYI-SUN line around 00Z, PIH to IDA between 00-01Z and DIJ by 03Z. This will cause a wind shift to the SW at KSUN and DIJ, and simply an increase in winds at BYI, IDA, PIH and DIJ, with gusts in the 20-30KT range possible along and behind the front, before winds begin to subside towards 06Z. Am carrying VCSH at all TAF sites, but this should be mainly Virga or sprinkles accompanied by a VFR mid deck. HRRR paints the potential for MVFR Stratus from 12-15Z Thu at IDA but have disregarded this potential ATTM due to the forecast dry nature of the boundary layer. Gusty Afternoon SW winds in the 10-20 kt with occasional higher gusts expected at BYI, PIH, IDA and DIJ between mainly 19-00Z tomorrow afternoon. AD/TAX && .FIRE WEATHER...Combination of wind gusts and low humidity will be near critical levels for the remainder of the afternoon and early evening hours. A relatively dry surface cold front will push in from the west, bringing some stronger wind gusts to Fire Weather Zones 410, 413, and 425 this evening as humidity begins to recover. Despite the absence of fire weather headlines today, there is potential for rapid fire spread given the near record low ERC values. Isolated dry thunderstorms will also be a threat this afternoon and evening, mainly along the Utah border and across the Salmon-Challis, however the threat is low. Any activity should taper off late tonight. Fire Weather Headlines were also considered for Thursday Afternoon for zones 425 and 410 due to the expected combination of critical RH and Wind Gusts in the Craters of the Moon vicinity. Due to the combination of only a small portion of both zones predicted to exceed critical thresholds and after coordination with local fire dispatch centers, we opted against a fire weather headline. The next period of impactful fire weather is expected Saturday as another mainly dry cold front is forecast to swing through the region. The combination of gusty winds and low relative humidity will again combine to elevate fire weather concerns. Otherwise, seasonable Temperatures and continued dry weather is currently anticipated to continue into at least early next week. AD/TAX && .PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. &&
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
Fire began at around 4 pm MDT on September 19th on private land and quickly spread to 911 acres before being contained. It burned in grass, brush and maples on steep ground. The fire was 100 percent contained on September 20th.
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, September 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: 787712.