Wildfire, Garfield
- When
- September 4, 8:00 PM MST to September 30, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Garfield County, 13 mi N of Silt
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 39.599, -107.904 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Colorado, September 4 to 30, 2001
This lightning sparked wildfire, better known as the Deep Creek Point Wildfire, consumed over 750 acres of oak brush and pine trees in a steep canyon north of Silt. This fire burned into the month of October.
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 sparked wildfire, better known as the Deep Creek Point Wildfire, consumed over 750 acres of oak brush and pine trees in a steep canyon north of Silt. This fire burned into the month of October. Please see the October 2001 report of Storm Data 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 Sep 4, 12:03 PM MST, 7 hours 57 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 4, 12:03 PM MST, 7 hours 57 minutes before
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 103 PM MDT TUE SEP 4 2001 ...A TOUCH OF AUTUMN (AND DUSTING OF SNOW) POSSIBLE LATE THIS WEEK FOR EARLY-SEASON HUNTERS IN THE MOUNTAINS... TROUGH OVER SW UTAH MOVING TO NNE THIS AFTERNOON. ISOLD TSTMS BUILDING OVER MTNS IN SOUTHERLY VERTICAL SPEED WITH LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE ALOFT SHOWN ON RUC. THIS TROUGH NEVER REALLY TAPPED BAJA MOISTURE AS EARLY PROGGED SO POPS SHOULD REMAIN LOW TNGT...NO MORE THAN WDLY SCT SHWRS/TSTMS IN THE MTNS AND ISOLD IN THE VALLEYS. WEDNESDAY SHOULD REMAIN UNEVENTFUL AS TNGTS TROUGH WILL HAVE PASSED BUT NOT SHORTWAVE RIDGE DEVELOPS BEFORE GRADIENT STARTS TO TIGHTEN AHEAD OF NEXT MORE SIGNIFICANT STORM. 12Z MODELS CONTINUED TO DEVELOP A STRONG SHORTWAVE OVER THE PACNW WED WITH AVN TRACKING A CLOSED AND DIGGING LOW ACROSS THE NRN GREAT BASIN WED NGT AND THUR. AVN TAKES THE 500 MB LOW CENTER THRU SWRN WY THURS NGT THEN DIGS IT SOUTH THRU WRN CO FRI. IF THIS COMES TRUE...THURS SHOULD BE A WINDY ONE... FOLLOWED BY SIGNIFICANT COOLING FRIDAY...WITH THE POSSIBLILITY OF SNOW ABOVE ABOUT 8500 FEET FRID NIGHT. CJC IN THE EXTENDED (FRI-TUE)...EC/MRF HAVE ABRUPTLY ABANDONED IDEA OF CLOSED LOW OFF THE WEST COAST...WITH ALL MODELS NOW MORE IN AGREEMENT WITH BRINGING TROF RATHER QUICKLY ACROSS THE ROCKIES. TIME FRAME LOOKS TO BE EARLY FRIDAY...BUT WITH A HISTORY OF MODEL DIFFERENCES WITH THIS SYSTEM...LEVEL OF CONFIDENCE ON TIMING AND INTENSITY LOW. WITH RIDGE AND WARM TEMPS IN CURRENTLY ACROSS SWRN U.S. AND SRN PLAINS...SEEMS MRF/NOGAPS DROP LOW AND COLD POOL TOO FAR SOUTH FRI/SAT...AND PREFER SOMETHING CLOSER TO EC WHICH KEEPS IT MORE AN OPEN WAVE AND FARTHER NORTH. MOISTURE SEEMS TO BE THE LIMITING FACTOR....SO NO CHANGE TO THE LOW POPS CURRENTLY IN THE FORECAST FOR FRI. WARMING AND DRY FOR THE WEEKEND AS HEIGHTS RISE...THEN MRF SHOWS SMALL DISTURBANCE MONDAY AND ANOTHER LATE TUESDAY. WEST-SOUTHWEST FLOW REMAINS RATHER DRY. JAD .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
- Flash Flooding in Mississippi, September 4, 2001
- Tornado in Pennsylvania, September 4, 2001
- Tornado in Pennsylvania, September 4, 2001
- Lightning Strike in New York, September 4, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Florida, September 4, 2001
- Lightning Strike in New York, September 4, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Oklahoma, September 4, 2001
- Funnel Clouds in Texas, September 4, 2001
- Flooding in Alaska, September 4 to 5, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in New Jersey, September 4, 2001
- Flood in South Carolina, September 4, 2001
- Flash Flood in Texas, September 4, 2001
More
Every storm in Colorado in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, September 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: 5268602.