The Pioneer Fire started on June 8 by unknown human cause.
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.
The Pioneer Fire started on June 8 by unknown human cause.
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 Jun 30, 9:00 PM PST, 3 hours earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Spokane WA 1000 PM PDT Sun Jun 30 2024 .SYNOPSIS... Showers and thunderstorms will piddle out after sunset tonight and skies will clear. Mountain showers, seasonal temperatures, and breezy winds will recur each afternoon through early next week. A drier and much warmer pattern will set up by the end of the work week. && .DISCUSSION... Rest of Sunday: A sharp shortwave moving through aloft has brought a moist, unstable airmass over the Inland Northwest which has created a favorable environment for convection to develop this afternoon. We're seeing several lines of showers and thunderstorms tracking through northeastern WA and northern ID bringing heavy rain, lightning, small hail, and gusty outflow winds. Storms are expected to continue into the evening and fizzle out after sunset. Areas expected to receive the highest rainfall amounts (upward of half an inch) by the end of the night include Boundary County, northern Pend Orielle County, and northern Bonner County. This area handles large amounts of rainfall better than the rest of the region, so the threat of flash flooding is low. Our insulating blanket of clouds will clear out overnight, and temperatures will drop into the 40s and 50s - considerably cooler than last night. Monday and Tuesday: The first couple of days of the workweek will be fairly similar to today with temperatures rising into the 70s and 80s and a threat of showers developing each afternoon over northeastern WA and north ID. Thunderstorms embedded within the showers will be more isolated. Unlike this morning, we'll begin Monday and Tuesday with blue skies. Cumulus clouds won't develop until later in the day and will be more confined to the northern part of the region. Areas west and south of Spokane will stay mainly clear. Winds will be breezy both days for the Wenatchee area and over the Waterville Plateau with gusts up to 30 mph possible. /Fewkes Wednesday through Sunday: High pressure off the coast of Northern California will build a ridge over the Pacific Northwest. Models are in a good agreement. The Inland Northwest will be under a dry Northwest flow pattern. The only chance for precip for the period is over North Idaho on Wednesday. Moisture from a passing shortwave could bring some isolated shower activity to the area. Winds will generally be light with mild increases from the afternoon mixing. Gusts will stay below 20 MPH. The main concern is the prolonged dry, warming period for most of the region. Temperatures will steadily climb through the weekend. For Friday and the weekend, the highs are expected to the upper 80s and 90s. There is the possibility of triple digits for the Southwest Basin. Overnight lows will be in the upper 50s and 60s. The long dry, hot pattern and 4th of July holiday could make for bad combination. A weak system on Sunday will bring little reprieve from the heat as temperatures rebound back on Monday. /JDC && .AVIATION... 06Z TAFS: The active showers and thunderstorms which impacted most of eastern WA and north ID this afternoon and evening will decrease through midnight. Except for KCOE the remaining TAF sites will remain clear of them for the night. The main problem overnight will revolve around the rain which fell today. Some heavy amounts were reported at KSFF, KCOE and the valleys over NE WA and N ID and suspect fog will form overnight as the higher clouds clear and winds abate. Confidence is high the fog will form north of the KCOE and SFF but not as confident for the airports themselves. However I figure that patchy shallow fog will form over the next couple hours and could expand into the early morning hours. I went for IFR conditions with a much smaller chance for KGEG. VFR conditions will prevail at all sites on Monday, however showers and a few thunderstorms will reform tomorrow afternoon. Most of these will be N and E of KGEG-KSFF-KCOE and should dissipate by mid-evening. fx FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND/OR ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: High confidence in VFR conditions for KPUW/KLWS/KMWH/KEAT with low to moderate confidence for IFR conditions due to fog/stratus for KGEG/KSFF/KCOE. ----------------------- Confidence descriptors: Low - Less than a 30 percent chance Moderate - 30 to 70 percent chance High - Greater than a 70 percent chance For additional probabilistic information for NWS Spokane airports, please refer to the Aviation Dashboard on our webpage: https:/www.weather.gov/otx/avndashboard && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Spokane 53 81 54 82 52 83 / 20 10 0 0 0 0 Coeur d'Alene 53 78 53 77 51 77 / 30 20 0 0 0 10 Pullman 52 76 51 77 50 78 / 10 10 0 0 0 0 Lewiston 61 85 59 87 58 86 / 10 10 0 0 0 0 Colville 45 79 45 79 45 79 / 30 50 0 10 0 10 Sandpoint 49 74 49 76 49 75 / 50 50 10 10 10 30 Kellogg 55 73 54 74 53 74 / 30 20 10 0 0 20 Moses Lake 56 86 54 87 54 87 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Wenatchee 60 82 57 84 58 86 / 0 0 0 0 0 0 Omak 54 86 54 87 55 87 / 10 10 0 0 0 0 && .OTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...None. WA...None. &&
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Spokane WA
800 PM PDT Sun Jun 30 2024
WAZ036-037-010400-
Spokane Area WA-Northeast Mountains WA-
800 PM PDT Sun Jun 30 2024
...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of southeastern Stevens
and northeastern Spokane Counties through 900 PM PDT...
At 800 PM PDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near
Suncrest, or 16 miles northwest of Spokane, moving east at 15 mph.
HAZARD...Winds in excess of 30 mph and half inch hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor hail damage to outdoor objects is
possible. Heavy downpours and lightning are also expected.
Locations impacted include...
Deer Park, Chattaroy, Milan, and Elk.
This includes the following highways...
U.S. Highway 2 in Washington between mile markers 300 and 313.
U.S. Highway 395 in Washington between mile markers 171 and 182.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.
&&
LAT...LON 4782 11765 4794 11768 4804 11725 4783 11717
TIME...MOT...LOC 0300Z 257DEG 12KT 4789 11758
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.50 IN
MAX WIND GUST...30 MPH
SOLVEIGSpecial Weather Statement
National Weather Service Spokane WA
833 PM PDT Sun Jun 30 2024
IDZ001-002-WAZ036-037-010430-
Coeur d'Alene Area ID-Northern Panhandle ID-Spokane Area WA-
Northeast Mountains WA-
833 PM PDT Sun Jun 30 2024
...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of west central
Kootenai and east central Spokane Counties through 930 PM PDT...
At 832 PM PDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm over
Country Homes, or near Spokane, moving east at 15 mph.
HAZARD...Winds in excess of 40 mph and half inch hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor hail damage to outdoor objects is
possible. Heavy downpours and lightning are also expected.
Locations impacted include...
Spokane, Spokane Valley, Post Falls, Liberty Lake, Millwood, Hauser,
Green Acres, Otis Orchards-East Farms, Trentwood, Fairwood, Country
Homes, Town And Country, Otis Orchards, Mead, Dishman, State Line,
Newman Lake, Veradale, and Opportunity.
This includes the following highways...
Interstate 90 in Washington between mile markers 290 and 299.
Interstate 90 in Idaho between mile markers 0 and 3.
U.S. Highway 2 in Washington between mile markers 291 and 298.
U.S. Highway 395 in Washington between mile markers 165 and 169.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.
&&
LAT...LON 4771 11747 4780 11748 4784 11697 4762 11699
TIME...MOT...LOC 0332Z 267DEG 14KT 4774 11742
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.50 IN
MAX WIND GUST...40 MPH
SOLVEIGSpecial Weather Statement
National Weather Service Spokane WA
912 PM PDT Sun Jun 30 2024
IDZ001-WAZ037-010515-
Northern Panhandle ID-Northeast Mountains WA-
912 PM PDT Sun Jun 30 2024
...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of southwestern Bonner,
northern Kootenai, northeastern Spokane and southeastern Pend Oreille
Counties through 1015 PM PDT...
At 912 PM PDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 7
miles south of Newport, or 11 miles southwest of Priest River, moving
east at 15 mph.
HAZARD...Winds in excess of 30 mph and pea size hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor hail damage to outdoor objects is
possible. Heavy downpours and lightning are also expected.
Locations impacted include...
Blanchard.
This includes the following highways...
U.S. Highway 2 in Idaho between mile markers 9 and 15.
U.S. Highway 2 in Washington between mile markers 327 and 328.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.
&&
LAT...LON 4801 11718 4814 11719 4818 11667 4797 11670
TIME...MOT...LOC 0412Z 267DEG 14KT 4808 11709
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.25 IN
MAX WIND GUST...30 MPH
SOLVEIGPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Spokane WA
929 PM PDT Sun Jun 30 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0830 PM Tstm Wnd Dmg 2 ENE 5 Mile 47.75N 117.40W
06/30/2024 Spokane WA Public
Tree branch down on powerlines. Over 700
people without power.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Pioneer Fire continued through the month of July. It started on June 8. It burned 38735 acres of timber and short grass while active. The cost of the fire is estimated.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, July 2024
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: 1204155.