Name: Wildfire in Idaho, September 5 to 20, 2021
Start: 2021-09-05T12:00
End: 2021-09-20T21:00
Location: Idaho

Where it happened

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.

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

A human caused fire began on September 5th and burned 510 acres about 23 miles south of Stanley and affected the Alturas Creek Campgrounds. It burned in brush, grass, ponderosa pine and Douglas fir. It was in very steep and complex terrain. Campsite closures were: Cabin Creek Trailhead, Perkins Lake, Alturas Lake, Pettit Lake Areas, Smokey Bear Alturas, North Shore Alturas, and Alturan inlet. The following roads were closed: Cabin Creek, Alturas Creek, and Beaver Creek. All Alturas Lake campers were evacuated. The fire was contained by September 20th.

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 Sep 4, 1:34 PM MST, 22 hours 26 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 4, 1:34 PM MST, 22 hours 26 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Pocatello ID
234 PM MDT Sat Sep 4 2021

.DISCUSSION...
A ridge of high pressure is set to expand across the Great Basin
over the next few days which will bring very dry conditions and
well above normal temperatures to all of eastern Idaho. The ridge
will be flattened a bit tomorrow as weak shortwave moves across
western Canada. This may bring some breezy conditions to the
Central Mountains but otherwise no major impacts to sensible
weather. The ridge will continue to amplify through the workweek
with temperatures running well above normal. In fact, models and
their associated ensembles show high probability of widespread 90s
in the Snake Plain and Magic Valley through Wednesday, at least.
NBM temperatures are not nearly as bullish for some reason but all
signs point to it being quite warm. That being said, nudged temps
up 1-3 degrees each day Sunday through Wednesday to better line up
with model ensembles. With the ridge settling nearly overhead by
Tuesday into Wednesday, rain chances will be non-existent through
Wednesday. By Thursday, ridge starts to move to the southeast as
upper-level trough starts to push into the Pacific NW. This will
set up a southwesterly flow over the region, perhaps bringing in
some moisture from the south to allow for some shower/storm
chances to end the workweek. Models show a low moving into
northern California Friday and pushing into our area Saturday
which would lead to higher PoPs for next weekend but this is still
far out in time so things can change. McKaughan

&&

.AVIATION...
VFR weather is expected. Smoke will be around and will
be increasing on Sunday with more smoke moving in from the
southwest. At the moment, we aren't expecting an impact to
visibility to MVFR. Keyes

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...
Hot and dry weather will continue through at least the middle of
next week. Very dry will remain locked in place, with poor
overnight recovery across most of our mountain locations. Some
areas through the period will also see several days of afternoon
humidity at or below 10 percent. We will see gusty winds at times
through this period, as a series of storms pass to our north and
help increase the wind...as well as mixing above the surface to
push gusts higher at times. We will like see pockets/short periods
of critical conditions due to that wind/humidity combination, but
at the moment we aren't looking at Red Flag Warnings. Showers and
thunderstorms return starting Thursday as the ridge shifts east
and low pressure develops to our west. 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

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Sawtooth-Stanley Basin

When: September 5, 12:00 PM MST to September 20, 9:00 PM MST
Where: Sawtooth-Stanley Basin forecast zone
Reported by: Park/Forest Service
Coordinates: 43.826, -114.131 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A human caused fire began on September 5th and burned 510 acres about 23 miles south of Stanley and affected the Alturas Creek Campgrounds. It burned in brush, grass, ponderosa pine and Douglas fir. It was in very steep and complex terrain. Campsite closures were: Cabin Creek Trailhead, Perkins Lake, Alturas Lake, Pettit Lake Areas, Smokey Bear Alturas, North Shore Alturas, and Alturan inlet. The following roads were closed: Cabin Creek, Alturas Creek, and Beaver Creek. All Alturas Lake campers were evacuated. The fire was contained by September 20th.

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 2021 Every state in 2021 This day in weather history Warnings in Idaho, September 2021

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: 984373.