Name: Wildfire in Idaho, July 2 to 7, 2020
Start: 2020-07-02T12:00
End: 2020-07-07T12:00
Location: Idaho

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS PIH wrote it up.

The Howe Peak fire approximately 4 miles southwest of Howe began on July 2nd around 1 pm MDT and was human caused. It was along Highway 33 and burned grass, shrubs, and juniper in steep terrain. No structures were threatened other than right at the start of the fire and no evacuations occurred other than voluntary in Howe initially. The power in the town of Howe was out. 140 firefighters were used and the fire reached 7,300 acres. 17 power line poles were damaged. Idaho Highway 33 closed for a short time on the 2nd between Butte City and Howe. The fire was contained by July 7th.

What forecasters said that day

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 2, 1:43 AM MST, 10 hours 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 2, 1:43 AM MST, 10 hours 17 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Pocatello ID
243 AM MDT Thu Jul 2 2020

.SHORT TERM...Today through Independence Day. Southwest flow takes
over, bringing warmer weather our way as we move into the holiday
weekend. We will see occasional pockets of showers and
thunderstorms daily. This will vary depending on the day, as we
may not see some of those trends develop until within a few hours
of development. For today, we are looking for showers this morning
across portions of the Snake Plain and southern/eastern highlands
to quickly move northeast, with another round developing late this
afternoon across southern areas and spreading northeast tonight.
Today's storms will likely produce light rain and some gusty winds
with nothing severe anticipated. Winds look pretty gusty this
afternoon and evening across the Arco Desert north and west into
the central mountains and along the Montana border. At the moment,
they look lighter than yesterday...precluding us from needing any
type of headline. The potential for strong/severe storms exists
Friday generally north of a Challis- Blackfoot- Victor line. For
Independence Day, there is a limited chance of showers and storms
across the central mountains, eastern and southeast highlands. It
will be breezy in the afternoon in some places, but should quickly
diminish at sunset for any fireworks activities taking place
across eastern Idaho. Keyes

.LONG TERM...Sunday through Thursday. Upper flow over East Idaho
remains southwest through the extended period with upper trough
across PacNW states. Weak shortwaves eject out of the trough across
the region, so there remains a general threat of isolated
thunderstorms each day. Focus remains higher elevations, mainly
across the Upper Snake regions. Temperatures remain near or above
normal through the period with occasional afternoon gusty periods.
DMH

&&

.AVIATION...Broad swath of sprinkles continues this morning across
east Idaho. Will likely see this region develop into generally
isolated SHRA/TSRA this evening, potentially impacting all terminals
except KSUN. Gusty outflows in excess of 30kts possible. Clearing
expected at KBYI after 06Z but SHRA could continue for KPIH/KIDA and
especially KDIJ. Ceilings likely to remain VFR throughout. DMH

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...Warmer weather returns as southwest flow develops
across central and eastern Idaho, with this pattern holding steady
well into next week. There isn't a lot of monsoon moisture getting
pulled into the pattern, so it doesn't look like daily
thunderstorm chances will be widespread. With the limited
moisture, at times it will make forecasting where showers and
storms a bit more uncertain than we normally might see. For today,
the current trends have the morning showers and storms shifting
into Wyoming, with the next round developing across the south and
pushing northeast tonight...impacting most fire zones except 422
and 475. Storms at the moment aren't expected to produce much
rainfall, mainly gusty winds and maybe some small hail. Outside of
storms today, wind gusts over 30mph are likely across the Arco
Desert, central mountains and Zone 411 along the Montana border.
Humidity values will begin dropping each day. Decent recovery is
expected at lower elevations, with some limited recovery overnight
at mid/upper slopes.  Keyes

&&

.PIH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.
&&

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Lost River Range

When: July 2, 12:00 PM MST to July 7, 12:00 PM MST
Where: Lost River Range forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 43.982, -113.727 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Howe Peak fire approximately 4 miles southwest of Howe began on July 2nd around 1 pm MDT and was human caused. It was along Highway 33 and burned grass, shrubs, and juniper in steep terrain. No structures were threatened other than right at the start of the fire and no evacuations occurred other than voluntary in Howe initially. The power in the town of Howe was out. 140 firefighters were used and the fire reached 7,300 acres. 17 power line poles were damaged. Idaho Highway 33 closed for a short time on the 2nd between Butte City and Howe. The fire was contained by July 7th.

Wildfire, Lost River Valleys

When: July 2, 12:00 PM MST to July 7, 12:00 PM MST
Where: Lost River Valleys forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 43.982, -113.727 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Howe Peak fire approximately 4 miles southwest of Howe began on July 2nd around 1 pm MDT and was human caused. It was along Highway 33 and burned grass, shrubs, and juniper in steep terrain. No structures were threatened other than right at the start of the fire and no evacuations occurred other than voluntary in Howe initially. The power in the town of Howe was out. 140 firefighters were used and the fire reached 7,300 acres. 17 power line poles were damaged. Idaho Highway 33 closed for a short time on the 2nd between Butte City and Howe. The fire was contained by July 7th.

What these are

Wildfire: A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Idaho in 2020 Every state in 2020 This day in weather history Warnings in Idaho, July 2020

Sources

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: 911225, 911226.