The Worthington Fire was detected on 07/30/20. The cause was a lightning strike.
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The episode as NWS MFR wrote it up.
The Worthington Fire was detected on 07/30/20. The cause was a lightning strike. As of the last report on 08/16/20 at 06:30 PDT, the fire had burned 761 acres and was 100 percent contained. 3.8 million dollars had been expended on firefighting efforts.
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 Medford, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 31, 7:40 PM PST, 4 hours 20 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Medford OR 840 PM PDT Fri Jul 31 2020 .DISCUSSION...8:30 PM Satellite imagery is showing a band of clouds associated with a dry cool front moving through the area. This band of clouds will not bring any precipitation to the area (maybe a little bit of drizzle at the coast), but conditions tomorrow will be a little bit cooler and more humid. We allowed the red flag warning to expire at 8 PM with humidity increasing as part of the humidity recovery process. Tomorrow will be quite similar to today, but slightly cooler with slightly higher humidity. Will allow the overnight shift to assess the situation and make any further decisions regarding the critical nature of the forecast. For now, no changes are needed. -Schaaf && .AVIATION...For the 01/00Z TAF Cycle...Over the coastal waters and along the coast IFR/LIFR cigs/vsbys in low clouds and fog will become widespread this evening and persist through Saturday morning. The marine layer will spread a bit into the coastal valleys and portions of the lower Umpqua northwest of Roseburg tonight through Saturday morning. Over the inland areas...VFR conditions will prevail through tonight. There will be some MVFR vsbys in smoke near active fires such as the recent Worthington fire in Jackson county, which may reduce visibility at KMFR at times. Other fires affecting the region are the July complex near the Siskiyou/Modoc county boundary and the Red Salmon fire, near Somes Bar, in southwest Siskiyou County. -CC && .MARINE...Updated 800 PM PDT Friday 31 July 2020...Relatively calm seas and light northerly winds will prevail through this weekend. A weak front will move onshore Sunday night. A thermal trough will develop near the coast Monday night into Tuesday. This will bring gusty north winds and steep seas to the area, especially for areas south of Cape Blanco. These conditions may continue through late next week. -CC && .PREV DISCUSSION... /Issued 235 PM PDT Fri Jul 31 2020/ DISCUSSION...Clear skies prevail across the forecast area this afternoon. The exception being some lingering coastal stratus along the capes and south of Gold Beach as well as hazy/smoky conditions due to local wildfires. Quiet conditions with a slight cooling trend will continue through the weekend and into Monday. The upper level ridge responsible for the triple digit heat has shifted east. Current temperatures are trending a few degrees lower than this time yesterday, but it's still hot outside. Afternoon breezes will be enhanced today and these winds combined with low relative humidities will bring another round of critical fire weather conditions to portions of the area. Please see the Fire Weather Discussion below for more details. Hazy conditions will continue across the area due to wildfire smoke. Expect conditions through the weekend to be similar to today, albeit slightly cooler and with slightly weaker afternoon breezes. On Monday, a shortwave trough will move through the area, and this will be the "coolest" day of the forecast period. Considering the fairly dry air mass this trough will be moving into, it's not likely for any precipitation to be squeezed out of this system. There may be some sprinkles along the coast north of Cape Blanco, but any mention of measureable precipitation has been removed from the forecast. After Monday, broad upper level troughing moves into the area and lingers for much of next week. This will moderate temperatures, keeping them within a few degrees of normal. Thunderstorm potential increases next week (Tues-Thurs), however, confidence is not high enough to introduce chances into the forecast. Much will depend on the actual track of any shortwaves moving through the area. Currently, thunderstorm parameters are weak, but the favorable areas look to be east of the Cascades. Stay tuned as details become more clear. /BR-y FIRE WEATHER...Updated 200 PM PDT Friday 31 July 2020...Critical fire conditions are expected in terms of winds and low relative humidity and to some extent instability (haines 5). Thus, a Red Flag Warning remains in effect through early evening for gusty winds and low relative humidity for portions of fire weather zones (FWZs) 624 in Oregon and 284 and 285 in California. This includes the Caldwell Fire. Please see RFWMFR for more details. We've also issued a Red Flag Warning for portions of the Rogue and Bear Creek Valleys in FWZ 622 because humidity values are trending lower than 24 hours ago, and with the expected gusty winds this afternoon, we expect conditions to again become critical this afternoon. Tomorrow begins a period where we expect temperatures to trend lower and humidity to trend higher. Winds will trend lower tomorrow as well, compared to today. Marginal cooling will start today west of the Cascades and tomorrow east of the Cascades. Temperatures will still be above normal with dry afternoons and breezy conditions, but we don't expect Red Flag criteria to be met. Models are hinting at a chance of thunderstorms entering the picture on Tuesday as a disturbance moves into Northern California from the west. Probabilities of lightning aren't high enough to introduce them into the forecast, and there is still some variability in model solutions, so we'll keep an eye on it for now and communicate the potential via discussions at this time. Keene && .MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...None. CA...None. Pacific Coastal Waters...None.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Worthington Fire was detected on 07/30/20. The cause was a lightning strike. As of the last report on 08/16/20 at 06:30 PDT, the fire had burned 761 acres and was 100 percent contained. 3.8 million dollars had been expended on firefighting efforts.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, August 2020
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: 898311.