Wildfire, Routt
- When
- July 4, 2:00 PM MST to July 7, 8:00 PM MST
- Where
- Routt County, 10 mi N of Steamboat Spgs
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 40.485, -106.991 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Colorado, July 4 to 7, 2001
Lightning ignited a wildfire which consumed 45 acres of forest in the Mount Zirkel Wilderness Area.
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.
Lightning ignited a wildfire which consumed 45 acres of forest in the Mount Zirkel Wilderness Area.
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 4, 1:56 PM MST, 4 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 4, 1:56 PM MST, 4 minutes before
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 256 PM MDT WED JUL 4 2001 A LITTLE MORE ACTIVITY ON THE WSR-88D DOPPLER RADAR THIS AFTERNOON AS HOT AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES COMBINES WITH ADEQUATE MOISTURE TO FIRE OFF SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. BEST COVERAGE OVER THE SAN JUANS AND ALONG THE TAVAPUTS PLATEAUS. EXPECT CONVECTION TO BE WITH US THROUGH LATE THIS EVENING WITH THREAT OF SOME NOCTURNAL STORMS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION...AS CLOUD COVER KEEPS SFC TEMPS VERY WARM TONIGHT AND OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES INTERACT WITH LOCAL TERRAIN. UPPER LEVEL HIGH WILL CONTINUE TO SLIDE SLOWLY EAST ON THURSDAY WITH FLOW ALOFT BECOMING MORE SOUTHERLY. THIS WILL ALLOW BETTER MOISTURE TO MOVE INTO THE REGION...WITH AN INCREASED THREAT OF CONVECTION AS MINOR SHRTWVS ROTATE IN. MODELS DO HAVE SOME SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WITH THE AVN/NGM MODELS INDICATING MORE AVAILABLE MOISTURE. UPSTREAM SOUNDINGS SUPPORT THE WETTER SOLUTIONS AS FAR AS PRECIPITABLE WATER IS CONCERNED...AND WILL LEAN TOWARD THESE SOLUTIONS. MODEL GUIDANCE FOR TEMPS ALSO DIFFER SIGNIFICANTLY WITH THE FWC MUCH WARMER. INCREASED CLOUD COVER ON THURSDAY SHOULD HELP TO KEEP TEMPS DOWN A FEW DEGREES...SO EXPECT AN END OF THE 100 DEGREE DAYS IN THE GRAND VALLEY. MORE OF THE SAME IN STORE ON FRIDAY. JDC EXTENDED (SAT-WED)...UPPER HIGH RECENTERS ITSELF OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS SAT WITH SUB-TROPICAL MOISTURE CONTINUING TO ROTATE IN ANTI- CYCLONIC MOTION. CWFA REMAINS IN MOIST SOUTHERLY FLOW SAT/SUN RESULTING IN ONGOING THREAT OF HIGH TERRAIN CONVECTION. FLOW MAY BE STRONG ENOUGH SAT/SUN TO PROPAGATE TSTMS OVER LOWER VALLEYS...SO WILL MENTION SLIGHT CHANCE POPS. MED RANGE MODELS CONT TO SHOW UPR HIGH RETROGRESSION MON-WED WITH LINGERING MOISTURE TRAPPED BENEATH THE RIDGE AXIS. SCT TSTM ACTIVITY WILL PERSIST OVER THE MTNS. THIS FAR OUT...WILL KEEP P/C SKIES FOR LOWER VALLEYS. TEMPS WILL REMAIN AT OR ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH THE PERIOD. DJN.83 .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 and Drought in Oklahoma, July 4 to 31, 2001
- Hail in Nebraska, July 4, 2001
- High Surf in Puerto Rico, July 4, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Utah, July 4, 2001
- Heat in Illinois, July 4, 2001
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in South Carolina, July 4, 2001
- Tornado in Kentucky, July 4, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in New York, July 4, 2001
- Flash Flood and Damaging Winds in Virginia, July 4, 2001
- Hail in Nebraska, July 4, 2001
- Flash Flood and Hail in Kentucky, July 4, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 4, 2001
More
Every storm in Colorado in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, July 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: 5257748.