Washington, 2023Wildfire in Washington, August 1 to 31, 2023
August 1 to 31, 2023 · NWS OTX · 1 event in 1 county or zone
It started on July 29 and continued to be monitored through August.
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
Open the live radar over this ground
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $9.9 million
- 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.
It started on July 29 and continued to be monitored through August.
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 Spokane, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 31, 2:46 PM PST, 9 hours 14 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 2:46 PM PST, 9 hours 14 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
346 PM PDT Mon Jul 31 2023
.SYNOPSIS...
The region will see ongoing warm and dry weather for the majority
of the time. Increased chances of thunderstorms expected for the
end of the week and weekend.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
Tonight through Wednesday night: The Inland Northwest will be under
dry southwest flow for the first half of the week. A weak
disturbance pushing into western Washington this afternoon will
reinforce the cross-Cascade pressure gradient with gap winds
increasing later this afternoon into this evening. The Wenatchee
Area to the Waterville Plateau is expected to see winds to around 15
mph sustained and gusting to around 25 mph. High pressure to our
southeast then looks to amplify a bit more into the Northwest
Tuesday into Wednesday. This will deflect energy pushing inland off
of the eastern Pacific to our north more into BC. As such, we
should see a bit less in the way of winds, but will see the
typical evening push of westerly winds through the Cascade gaps.
These pushes of westerly winds won't rise to the level of reaching
critical thresholds for fire weather concerns, but will be an
elevated concern due to the increased dryness across the region.
Smoke and haze has been extended through the week across the
northwest portion of the region due to the active Eagle Bluff Fire
that is burning near Oroville. Expect smoky skies through the week
with pushes of smoke up and down the Okanogan Valley concurrent with
the diurnal cycles of wind through the valley: up valley during the
afternoon (toward Canada) and down valley at night into the morning
(toward the Waterville Plateau). A westerly component to the wind
further up in the atmosphere will tend to push some smoke to the
east as well where skies will look smoky at times around Republic
and possibly to Colville. If smoke pushes far enough south across
the Waterville Plateau, then we will see the potential for this
smoke to drift across the Upper Columbia Basin as well.
Temperatures will see a slight warming trend into Wednesday with
highs back up into the 90s and slightly warmer then normal for
the start of August. /SVH
Long term through 12z Monday:
Thursday and Friday: Ensembles show a trough moving over Southern
Oregon with a small area of rotation over Southeastern WA and the
Southern ID Panhandle on Thursday night. This will provide some
forcing for elevated storms on Friday as the trough gets closer to
the area, though there is little moisture for the storms to work
with, as PWAT anomalies show 40-60% of normal moisture. The chance
for storms to form is between 10-20% over the higher terrain of
Northern WA and The ID Panhandle. The storms over Northern WA will
be much drier which could pose a dry lightning threat, while the
storms over the ID Panhandle will be able to produce some
precipitation, though QPF amounts are only trace to a few
hundredths of an inch.
Saturday, some models are indicating a plume of monsoonal moisture
from the Desert Southwest (PWATs 140-170% of normal) reaching
into our area that could lead to some elevated instability and a
few thunderstorms. The NBM is showing a drier atmosphere, though
deterministic guidance is steady in PoP chances, so I’ve raised
precipitation chances slightly over the higher terrain to match.
These storms will be more capable of producing measurable
precipitation (at least 0.01" of precip), though amounts should
still stay near or below five hundredths of an inch.
Sunday will be similar to Saturday in terms of moisture, but storm
coverage will be slightly less as the trough shifts to our east
and we lose the added forcing. Next week will feature another
warming trend, though the degree of heating is not well resolved
in the models and will need to be monitored in the coming days.
/Sinowitz
&&
.AVIATION...
00Z TAFs: A dry atmosphere will yield to VFR conditions at the
TAF sites across the region. Light haze will remain from smoke
aloft. Smoke from local wildfires will linger but should not drop
TAFs into MVFR. Winds will taper off overnight in most areas
expect for the downslope winds in the lee of the Cascades. Lighter
winds on tap for Tuesday. /rfox
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Spokane 53 91 56 92 57 90 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coeur d'Alene 52 91 52 92 53 91 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pullman 47 89 54 88 54 86 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lewiston 61 99 62 97 64 96 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Colville 44 90 52 93 50 92 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sandpoint 46 87 47 90 48 88 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kellogg 59 88 55 90 54 87 / 0 0 0 0 0 10
Moses Lake 52 92 54 93 56 92 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wenatchee 59 91 60 92 63 93 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Omak 56 93 57 94 59 95 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
&&
.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...None.
WA...None.
&&
Wildfire, Okanogan Valley
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM PST to August 31, 11:59 PM PST
- Where
- Okanogan Valley forecast zone
- Property damage
- $9.9 million
- Reported by
- Park/Forest Service
- Coordinates
- 48.143, -119.716 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Unknown cause started the wildfire. It continued through the month of August. It burned 16428 acres of grassland, brush, and timber. It prompted level 3 evacuations along SR-97 from Oroville to the Canadian Border. Three structures were lost.
- 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.
- Excessive Heat and Heat in Arizona, August 1 to 7, 202358 deaths · 38 events
- Excessive Heat and Heat in Texas, August 1 to 14, 202315 deaths · 501 injured · 92 events
- Heat in Arizona, August 1 to 3, 202311 deaths · 3 events
- Excessive Heat in Arizona, August 1 to 6, 20239 deaths · 6 events
- Excessive Heat in Oklahoma, August 1 to 4, 202332 injured · 25 events
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Utah, August 1 to 4, 2023$21 million · 1 in hail · 43 events
- Excessive Heat and Heat in Texas, August 1 to 5, 20231 death · 25 events
- Tornado and Hail in North Dakota, August 1, 2023$5.3 million · 1.75 in hail · 51 events
- Wildfire in Idaho, August 1 to 30, 2023$9.2 million · 1 event
- Drought in Louisiana, August 1 to 31, 2023$4.0 million · 4 events
- Drought in Missouri, August 1 to 31, 2023$1.9 million · 17 events
- Wildfire in Colorado, August 1 to 31, 2023$4.0 million · 1 event
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: 1138819.