The Greenhouse Wildfire started on July 23rd 1 mile southwest of Nespelem on the Colville Indian Reservation. The fire was ignited due to unknown causes, but grew rapidly under very warm and dry conditions.
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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 OTX wrote it up.
The Greenhouse Wildfire started on July 23rd 1 mile southwest of Nespelem on the Colville Indian Reservation. The fire was ignited due to unknown causes, but grew rapidly under very warm and dry conditions. Level 3 evacuations occurred for many and included the inmates at the Colville Tribal Corrections Facility. Many structures were threatened and several damaged. Wind and low relative humidity fueled the fire which consumed 5,320 acres of timber and grass before contained July 30. The firefighting resources necessary to bring the fire under control were estimated at 3.4 million dollars.
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 Spokane, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 22, 8:39 PM PST, 3 hours 21 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 939 PM PDT Wed Jul 22 2020 .SYNOPSIS... A mostly dry cold front passage tonight will bring cooler temperatures to the Inland Northwest for Thursday through Saturday. There will also be chance for thunderstorms over extreme southeastern Washington and into the south Idaho Panhandle overnight into Thursday morning. The heat will then return for early next week with highs back into the mid 90s to near 100 for at least Monday and Tuesday. && .DISCUSSION... Evening update: An upper trough over western WA this evening will track east overnight into Thursday morning. An area of elevated moisture/instability will get drawn north ahead of the trough as remnants of evening convection over south central Oregon and eastern Oregon get picked up in the southwest flow aloft. The latest model guidance suggest the main threat will remain south of a line from Pullman to Kellogg with the best chances from the Camas Prairie into southern Shoshone county. Main update was to remove the Coeur d'Alene area from the slight chance of showers/thunderstorms for Thursday morning. JW && .AVIATION... 06Z TAFS: Latest model guidance shows the best potential for elevated showers/thunderstorms overnight into early Thursday south and east of KLWS so have removed the TEMPO group for -TSRA at KLWS/KPUW. VFR conditions are expected to continue for all TAF sites. Breezy winds are expected for most TAF sites, beginning at KEAT this evening and then spreading into more of the region Thursday as the region begins to become under the influence of an upper trough with good afternoon mixing. JW && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Spokane 58 84 52 81 50 83 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Coeur d'Alene 58 82 54 79 50 81 / 0 10 0 0 0 0 Pullman 56 81 49 79 47 78 / 10 20 0 0 0 0 Lewiston 65 88 59 87 57 86 / 20 20 0 0 0 0 Colville 55 86 53 82 47 84 / 0 10 0 0 0 0 Sandpoint 57 81 51 77 50 80 / 0 10 0 0 0 0 Kellogg 60 78 55 76 53 77 / 0 10 0 0 0 0 Moses Lake 59 89 55 87 53 88 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Wenatchee 64 87 60 82 56 86 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Omak 60 89 58 84 55 87 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...None. WA...None. &&
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Spokane WA 949 PM PDT Wed Jul 22 2020 IDZ002-003-WAZ033>036-041-042-044-240500- Coeur d'Alene Area-Idaho Palouse-Washington Palouse- Moses Lake Area-Upper Columbia Basin-Spokane Area-Wenatchee Area- East Slopes Northern Cascades-Waterville Plateau- 949 PM PDT Wed Jul 22 2020 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North Idaho... Central Washington...East Central Washington...North Central Washington...Northeast Washington and Southeast Washington. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY Breezy winds and low relative humidity may contribute to fire spread with any new or existing grass and brush fires Thursday and Friday. IDZ001-004-026-027-WAZ031-032-037-038-043-240500- Northern Panhandle-Central Panhandle Mountains-Lewiston Area- Lewis and Southern Nez Perce Counties-Northeast Blue Mountains- Lower Garfield and Asotin Counties-Northeast Mountains- Okanogan Highlands-Okanogan Valley- 949 PM PDT Wed Jul 22 2020 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North Idaho... North Central Idaho...North Central Washington...Northeast Washington and Southeast Washington. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY No hazardous weather is expected at this time.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Nespelem Transfer Station and the Colville Tribal Recycling Center were severely damaged.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, July 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: 916334.