Wildfire — Northern Panhandle, Idaho

2018-08-01 to 2018-08-31 · Northern Panhandle, Idaho

Event narrative

The Cougar Wildfire near Hope Idaho is believed to have been started by lightning on July 28th. The fire grew and eventually burned 7,866 acres of timber. No structures of homes were lost or threatened. The cost of the firefighting resources required to contain the fire was calculated at 5.1 million dollars.

Wider weather episode

Dry conditions over north Idaho during July and August created dry fuel conditions across the region. Lightning from occasional thunderstorms moving through the region most notably during the last week of July, caused a number of wildfires some of which grew large and long lasting requiring considerable state and federal resources to contain. These large fires were in unpopulated forest land with no structures or homes lost. Smoke from these fires and fires in surrounding states and provinces often severely degraded air quality across eastern Washington and north Idaho during the month of August.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 776002. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.