Wildfire, Routt
- When
- August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 20, 8:00 PM MST
- Where
- Routt County, 11 mi N of Steamboat Spgs
- Reported by
- BROADCAST MEDIA
- Coordinates
- 40.485, -106.991 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Colorado, August 1 to 20, 2001
This lightning caused wildfire started on July 9th, 2001 and continued to burn into late August. The fire was known as the Mad Creek fire and consumed 1300 acres of downed timber in the Mount Zirkel Wilderness area north of Steamboat Springs.
Where it happened
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- 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.
What happened
The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.
This lightning caused wildfire started on July 9th, 2001 and continued to burn into late August. The fire was known as the Mad Creek fire and consumed 1300 acres of downed timber in the Mount Zirkel Wilderness area north of Steamboat Springs. The fire was eventually extinguished after several rain storms moved through the region. Please see the July 2001 Storm Data Report for more information.
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 Grand Junction, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 31, 11:00 AM MST, 13 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 11:00 AM MST, 13 hours before
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 1200 PM MDT TUE JUL 31 2001 MOIST LOWER LEVELS ARE IN CONVECTIVE CONTROL IN SPITE OF DRYING FROM THE WEST. IN ADDITION...IN NORTHWESTERN CO THIS EVENING...RIGHT- ENTRANCE REGION OF 80KT JET IS PRODUCING SOME UPPER FORCING THROUGH 06Z. NORTHEASTERN UT LIKELY TOO DRY TO REALIZE THIS FORCING. AVN THE MODEL OF CHOICE DUE TO BEST POSITION OF JET FORCING...BUT ALSO DUE TO ITS INITIALIZATION OF TROPICAL WAVE IN NW MEXICO THAT WILL BE A WEATHER MAKER FOR WEDNESDAY AND POSSIBLY THURSDAY. TONIGHT: DRY AIR OBVIOUSLY WORKING INTO FAR WESTERN COLORADO. BRIEF HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE MAINLY IN THE EASTERN SAN JUANS AND ELKS WHERE PRECIP WATER IS HIGHEST. LITTLE FORCING SEEN BEYOND MIDNIGHT SO DON'T EXPECT WIDESPREAD ACTIVITY INTO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. ONE EXCEPTION MAY BE IN THE SOUTH CO WHERE SOME 300 DIVERGENCE IS PROGGED AT 12Z. JET FORCING NORTH MAY ASSIST WITH SMALL HAIL PRODUCTION. OUTFLOW WINDS A THREAT JUST ABOUT EVERYWHERE. WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY: TROPICAL DISTURBANCE MOVING INTO SE AZ TODAY IS IMPRESSIVE AS IT HAS REMAINED COHESIVE INTO THE AFTERNOON HOURS. THIS FEATURE WILL ROTATE PIECEMEAL TOWARD THE FORECAST AREA OR AT LEAST PUMP MOISTURE OUR WAY. NE UTAH WILL REMAIN HIGH AND DRYER...WITH NUMEROUS SHOWERS EXPECTED OVER THE EASTERN SAN JUANS-ELKS. SOME CONVECTION WILL LIKELY CONTINUE INTO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. MODELS HAVE HAD A HARD TIME WITH THE DRY LINE IN UTAH...LATELY PROGGING TOO MUCH DRYING INTO OUR WESTERN FORECAST AREA. THIS MAKES LIGHT POPS IN FAR WESTERN CO AND SE-EAST CENTRAL UTAH SUSPECT AND WILL GENERALLY GO HIGHER THAN PROGGED THERE. MILD TEMPERATURES IN CLOUDS AND MOISTURE...WARMER IN NE UTAH. RAMEY IN THE EXTENDED...UPPER RIDGE WILL REMAIN OVER THE SOUTHERN PLAINS AS NEXT TROUGH DROPS INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. MOIST SOUTHERLY FLOW AND A FEW WEAK DISTURBANCES PROGGED TO ROTATE AROUND WESTERN PERIPHERY OF UPPER RIDGE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. WILL KEEP SLIGHT CHC POPS MOST AREAS THESE TWO DAYS WITH JUST BELOW NORMAL TEMPS. UPPER RIDGE TO SHIFT NORTH AND WEST BY THE END OF THE WEEKEND. THIS SHOULD CUT OFF MOST OF THE MOISTURE FROM THE SOUTH AND WARM TEMPS A CATEGORY OR TWO. HAVE LEFT ONLY ISOLATED IN THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS SUNDAY-TUESDAY. CJ .GJT...NONE.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- 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.
The same day elsewhere
- Heat in Missouri, August 1 to 5, 2001
- Heat in Missouri, August 1 to 9, 2001
- Heat in Missouri, August 1 to 2, 2001
- Drought in Iowa, August 1 to 23, 2001
- Heat in Minnesota, August 1, 2001
- Flooding in North Dakota, August 1 to 31, 2001
- Heat in Illinois, August 1, 2001
- High Wind in Florida, August 1, 2001
- Heat in Texas, August 1, 2001
- Heat in Louisiana, August 1, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Wisconsin, August 1 to 2, 2001
- Wildfire in California, August 1 to 31, 2001
More
Every storm in Colorado in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, August 2001
Sources
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: 5264337.