Blue Lake Wildfire was started on August 15 by unknown causes.
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.
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.
Blue Lake Wildfire was started on August 15 by unknown causes.
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 Aug 15, 8:58 PM PST, 2 hours 52 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Spokane WA
958 PM PDT Tue Aug 15 2023
.SYNOPSIS...
Temperatures will continue to be hot through Thursday, reaching
the upper 90s and triple digits. A cool down, with a push of
breezy winds and possible showers, arrives by next weekend.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
Evening update: Based on increased fire activity on fires today
along the East Slopes of the Cascades and southern British
Columbia, the 00z run of the HRRR smoke is showing more haze and
smoke over the region into Thursday morning, especially over
northern Washington including the Upper Columbia Basin and Spokane
area. Thus the forecast has been updated to reflect these latest
smoke developments. JW
...Excessive Heat Continues Through Thursday...
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday:
The dog days of summer are upon us as we are in the midst of a
multi-day heat event in the Northwest. As of this writing, many
locations are climbing into the upper 90s and just passing that
triple digit mark. Clear skies outside of some smoke and haze will
continue for the next few days.
* Temperatures: Normal high temperatures for mid August are 83-90F
for many areas and normal low temperatures are in the mid to
upper 50s. Yes it's summer and yes it's supposed to be hot,
however our low temperatures will be about 10-15F above normal
as well as the daytime temperatures. This will lead to that
Moderate to Extreme Heat Risk that will impact nearly every
citizen and animal in this region, as little to no relief will
be felt. Many record high temperatures are in jeopardy today
and again Wednesday. Looking at our 12z KOTX sounding, the 850mb
temperature was 26C and it appears that the record for this
date was 25.8C, so even a record warm start to the day just
above the surface.
* Winds: Today, and namely this evening, the winds will increase
out of the west through the Cascade Gaps and onto the Waterville
Plateau. Wednesday morning north winds down the Okanogan Valley
will become breezy to windy with sustained winds advertised from
the National Blend of Models of 15-20 mph (similar story from
the UW-WRF). The plus side to these winds will be the strength
will not line up with the driest humidity for the day. By
Thursday afternoon wind speeds will increase with the passage of
a front. The Waterville Plateau, Columbia Basin and the
Okanogan Valley will have more than 90% chance of seeing
sustained 20 mph winds and a 50-70% chance (depending on
location) of seeing gusts over 30 mph. The winds Friday will
shift farther east and the dry conditions will persist.
* Dry: The precipitable water anomalies aren't as impressive as a
few weeks ago when it was dry, and actually with the westerly
winds Wednesday we'll drop to around 80% of normal. After that,
the Inland Northwest will remain around 120% of normal. This
will change come Friday into the weekend with the push of
moisture from the south. /Dewey
Friday through Tuesday: Though daytime temps will come down several
degrees on Friday, persistently dry conditions along with gusty
winds will lead to continuing fire weather concerns. **A Fire
Weather Watch is in effect for nearly of eastern WA and northern ID
thru Friday.** This will all occur as a trough pushes into and
across the Pacific and Inland Northwest. Daytime temperatures will
drop back into mid 80s-mid 90s Friday for most locations, before
dropping another 5 or so degrees for the weekend. In addition, some
well needed moisture may return by Saturday night into Sunday, with
chances for showers making an appearance across the region through
Monday. The best chances for showers with isolated embedded
thunderstorms will be over the Idaho Panhandle and over the northern
mountains of Eastern Washington. /KD
&&
.AVIATION...
06Z TAFs: Main aviation concerns into Wednesday will be wildfire
smoke. Visibility restrictions will be most prevalent in the
Methow and Okanogan Valleys as downvalley winds brings smoke into
these areas from nearby wildfires in the North Cascades and
southern BC. Visibilities in Omak have already dropped to 2-4
miles, but could fluctate through the period depending on smoke
levels. The HRRR smoke models also suggests some of this lower
level smoke may make into the Spokane area Wednesday morning
around 12z, but confidence in below VFR conditions is low.
Elsewhere high level smoke is expected regionwide, and indicated
by a scattered high level deck, but will likely be broken-overcast
at times. JW
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Spokane 66 101 67 101 69 93 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coeur d'Alene 66 99 65 100 67 92 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pullman 63 96 61 97 64 88 / 0 0 0 0 10 0
Lewiston 74 107 72 106 74 99 / 0 0 0 0 10 0
Colville 58 101 57 101 57 93 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sandpoint 61 96 59 97 62 89 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kellogg 69 95 69 97 69 87 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Moses Lake 66 103 67 103 68 93 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wenatchee 76 104 76 103 74 91 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
Omak 71 104 70 106 68 96 / 0 0 0 0 0 0
&&
.OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ID...Heat Advisory until 11 PM PDT Thursday for Central Panhandle
Mountains-Lewis and Southern Nez Perce Counties-Northern
Panhandle.
Fire Weather Watch from Thursday afternoon through Friday
evening for Northern and Central Idaho Panhandle (Zone 101).
Excessive Heat Warning until 11 PM PDT Thursday for Coeur
d'Alene Area-Idaho Palouse-Lewiston Area.
WA...Fire Weather Watch from Thursday afternoon through Friday
evening for Colville Reservation (Zone 702)-East Portion of
North Cascades National Park/Lake Chelan National
Recreation Area (Zone 697)-East Washington Central Cascades
(Zone 696)-East Washington North Cascades (Zone 698)-
Eastern Columbia Basin -Palouse -Spokane Area (Zone 708)-
Foothills of Central Washington Cascades (Zone 705)-
Foothills of Northeast Washington (Zone 701)-Lower Palouse
-Snake River (Zone 709)-Methow Valley (Zone 704)-Okanogan
Highlands and Kettle Mountains (Zone 699)-Okanogan Valley
(Zone 703)-Selkirk Mountains of Northeast Washington (Zone
700)-Waterville Plateau (Zone 706)-Western Columbia Basin
(Zone 707).
Excessive Heat Warning until 11 PM PDT Thursday for Central
Chelan County-Lower Garfield and Asotin Counties-Moses Lake
Area-Northeast Blue Mountains-Northeast Mountains-Okanogan
Highlands-Okanogan Valley-Spokane Area-Upper Columbia Basin-
Washington Palouse-Waterville Plateau-Wenatchee Area-
Western Chelan County-Western Okanogan County.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
Blue Lake Wildfire started by unknown causes 24 miles West of Winthrop, WA. It burned 1074 acres of Timber.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, August 2023
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: 1138826.