Lightning started the Prospect Fire on September 3.
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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.
Lightning started the Prospect Fire on September 3.
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 Sep 3, 2:03 PM PST, 57 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
303 PM PDT Sat Sep 3 2022
.SYNOPSIS...
Scattered showers and thunderstorms will exit the Idaho Panhandle
by mid evening leading to clearing skies and lighter winds
overnight. Sunday and Labor Day will be warm with mostly sunny
skies. Afternoon temperatures this weekend through Wednesday will
feature high temperatures mainly in the 80s. The arrival of a cold
front Thursday will bring the chance for showers and temperatures
cooling into the 70s.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
This Evening: As of 3PM, a tightly wound upper level low over the
Columbia Basin was producing scattered showers and thunderstorms
across the Palouse and Blue Mountains. By mid evening, this
feature will cross the Idaho Panhandle and be over western
Montana. Look for quick moving cells capable of brief periods of
rain and cloud to ground lightning. Far southeast Washington
through the central and southern Idaho Panhandle will likely be
the most active until this activity moves out of north Idaho
around 8 PM. New fire starts due to lightning are a concern as
well as wind gusts to 40 mph.
Overnight: The weather will quiet down quickly by mid to late
evening. West or southwest winds will remain gusty on exposed
mountain ridge tops which is a concern for wildfires in the high
elevations, but the post frontal winds will be good news for most
residents of the Inland Northwest looking for improved air
quality. Low temperatures overnight will be in the 50s.
Sunday and Labor Day: A "cleaner" westerly flow will develop
for the remainder of the holiday weekend as a broad trough over
the Gulf of Alaska slowly migrates into western Canada.
Communities immediately downwind of active fires will experience
smoke in the Methow and Okanogan Valleys and portions of far
northeast Washington and far north Idaho. Shower chances will be
well north of the Canadian border. Our region will experience
mainly clear skies and high temperatures in the 80s. Localized
west winds gusting as high as 25 to 30 mph will occur through the
Cascade gaps including Wenatchee, Vantage, and the Waterville
Plateau on Sunday. /GKoch
Tuesday through Sunday: The period starts on a quiet note as the
Four Corners High keeps stable conditions over the region through
Wednesday. By Thursday, a Low over the Gulf of Alaska will begin to
press longwave trough into the Pacific Northwest breaking down the
ridge. It will increase precip chances for the Cascades and Idaho
Panhandle. Models are in fairly good agreement with each other.
While under the ridge, temperatures will continue to be in the very
unseasonable 90s. By Thursday, the trough will drop the temperatures
80s and be close to normal for this time of year. /JDC
&&
.AVIATION...
18Z TAFs: Bands of light rain detected by radar will continue to
spread northeastward into eastern Washington and north Idaho this
afternoon. Much of what is being detected by radar is not reaching
the ground. Some of the more organized areas of virga will be
capable of producing downdrafts and surface wind gusts of 25 to 35
mph. A few lightning strikes may also occur this afternoon and
evening. At this time, the highest probability of lightning looks
to be across southeast Washington into the central and southern
Idaho Panhandle between 22 and 02z. Look for surface visibility
in eastern Washington and the central Idaho Panhandle to improve
this afternoon following the passage of a cold front. VFR
visibility should develop by mid afternoon and continue through
Sunday at KMWH, KGEG, KSFF, KCOE, and KPUW. /GKoch
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Spokane 56 86 55 81 51 88 / 20 0 0 0 0 0
Coeur d'Alene 55 86 54 81 49 88 / 30 0 0 0 0 0
Pullman 50 84 50 78 46 89 / 20 0 0 0 0 0
Lewiston 60 93 61 88 57 95 / 20 0 0 0 0 0
Colville 47 87 45 83 41 88 / 20 0 0 0 0 0
Sandpoint 52 83 50 79 45 84 / 20 0 0 0 0 0
Kellogg 58 83 57 78 54 88 / 30 0 0 0 0 0
Moses Lake 52 89 53 84 49 90 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wenatchee 60 88 59 82 56 87 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Omak 57 91 55 85 52 89 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
&&
.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...Red Flag Warning until 9 PM PDT this evening for Northern and
Central Idaho Panhandle (Zone 101).
WA...Red Flag Warning until 9 PM PDT this evening for Eastern
Columbia Basin -Palouse -Spokane Area (Zone 708)-
Foothills of Northeast Washington (Zone 701)-Lower Palouse
-Snake River (Zone 709)-Selkirk Mountains of Northeast
Washington (Zone 700)-Waterville Plateau (Zone 706)-Western
Columbia Basin (Zone 707).
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning started the Prospect Wildfire on September 3 Northeast of Moscow near the Meadow Creek and Prospect Creek junction. It burned 291 acres of timber.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, September 2022
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: 1057969.