Wildfire in Colorado, June 1 to 8, 2001

Name: Wildfire in Colorado, June 1 to 8, 2001
Start: 2001-06-01T00:00
End: 2001-06-08T20:00
Location: Colorado

June 1 to 8, 2001 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Lightning ignited a wildfire near Meeker, Colorado on May 30, 2001. The fire threatened several homes in the Sage Hill neighborhood as it consumed 110 acres of small trees and brush.

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.

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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 near Meeker, Colorado on May 30, 2001. The fire threatened several homes in the Sage Hill neighborhood as it consumed 110 acres of small trees and brush. No structures were lost as a result of fire fighting efforts.

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 May 31, 12:28 PM MST, 11 hours 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 31, 12:28 PM MST, 11 hours 32 minutes before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
128 PM MDT THU MAY 31 2001

HUGE RIDGE OVER THE WEST UNTIL FRI NGT AND WILL CONTINUE TO BRING
DRY NORTHWEST FLOW TO THE REGION. DRY AIRMASS COMBINED WITH MID-LEVEL
SUBSIDENCE INVERSION EFFECTIVELY CAPPING CONVECTION ACROSS THE REGION
TODAY AND FRIDAY...SO NO SGFNT POPS TO MENTION THRU SAT. ONLY
ISOLD LATE AFTN/EARLY EVNG TSTMS IN THE MTNS SAT. TROUGH BEGINS TO
MOVE THROUGH AFTER RIDGE SLIDES EAST WITH THE AXIS CROSSING THE CO/UT
BORDER BY FRIDAY EVENING...THEN AREA COMES UNDER PREFRONTAL SW FLOW
WITH SLIGHTLY MORE INSTABILITY AND INCREASING SW WINDS. TEMPS TO
CONTINUE SLOW UPWARD CLIMB WITH MOS NUMBERS APPEARING GOOD.  CJC

EXTENDED (SUN-THU)...UPPER TROUGH EXPECTED TO MOVE BY SUN-MON TIME
PERIOD WITH COOL FRONT SLIPPING INTO FROM THE NORTH SUNDAY. MOISTURE
APPEARS LIMITED WITH GENERALLY JUST SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS/TSTMS.
COOLER TEMPS MONDAY THEN GRADUAL WARMING TREND EXPECTED NEXT WEEK.
MODELS DIVERGE IN LATER PERIODS...BUT GENERAL IDEA IS RIDGING IN THE
WEST WITH DIFFERENCES MAINLY IN AMOUNT OF AMPLITUDE IN THE FLOW. MRF
DEVELOPS 500 MB HIGH OVER SWRN US/NRN MEXICO WITH RIDGE ABOUT OVER
FORECAST AREA WHILE EC REMAINS MOST ZONAL. IF MRF IS TRUE...MAY SEE
SOME MOISTURE TRY TO SNEAK NORTH UP RIDGE AXIS SO WILL CARRY ISOLD/
SLIGHT CHANCE OF DIURNAL TSTMS IN THE SOUTH WED-THU. OTHERWISE...
LOOKING PRETTY DRY AT THE MOMENT TUE-THU.  JAD

.GJT...NONE.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Rio Blanco

When: June 1, 12:00 AM MST to June 8, 8:00 PM MST
Where: Rio Blanco County, Meeker
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.980, -108.217 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

Every storm in Colorado in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Colorado, June 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: 5253183.