Wildfire in Arizona, May 21 to 31, 2002

Name: Wildfire in Arizona, May 21 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-05-21T08:00
End: 2002-05-31T23:59
Location: Arizona

May 21 to 31, 2002 · NWS TWC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The Bullock wildfire started in Bullock Canyon in the Catalina Mountains, part of the Coronado National Forest. The fire started on May 21st and continued through June 10th.

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $100,000
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 TWC wrote it up.

The Bullock wildfire started in Bullock Canyon in the Catalina Mountains, part of the Coronado National Forest. The fire started on May 21st and continued through June 10th. It was suspected to be human induced. The fire burned 30,563 acres along with 2 cabins and several outbuildings. The residents of Summerhaven were evacuated on May 25th and Catalina Highway closed on May 22nd. The fire also threatened Mt. Bigelow which had several telecommunication towers and 2 telescopes. However, fire fighters were able to contain the fire a half of a mile away. The entire fire fighting costs was estimated to be 11.5 million dollars.

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 Tucson, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 21, 2:15 AM MST, 5 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 21, 2:15 AM MST, 5 hours 45 minutes before

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
215 AM MST TUE MAY 21 2002

.SYNOPSIS...A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WILL CROSS THE GREAT BASIN TODAY.
THIS SYSTEM WILL BE STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS TO PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST
ARIZONA TODAY ALONG WITH COOLER CONDITIONS. THE STORM SYSTEM WILL
STALL ACROSS THE NORTHERN ROCKIES WEDNESDAY. THE RESULT WILL BE LESS
WIND AND DAYTIME TEMPERATURES REMAINING BELOW SEASONAL NORMALS. A
GRADUAL WARMING TREND IS EXPECTED DURING THE LATTER PART OF THE WEEK
AS DRY WEATHER CONTINUES.

.DISCUSSION...CLEAR SKIES PREVAIL ACROSS SE AZ AT THIS TIME.
GENERALLY LIGHT WLY WINDS ARE OCCURRING AND A VERY DRY AIRMASS
CONTINUES AS EVIDENCED IN DEWPOINTS RANGING FROM THE MID TEENS-
MID 20S F. ANALYSIS OF 21/00Z UPPER AIR PLOTS REVEALED A VERY DEEP
NEGATIVE TILTED TROF OVER THE NWRN CONUS. UPPER LOW PRESSURE WAS
CENTERED N SFO WITH 70 KT H5 SPEED MAX ROTATING AROUND BASE OF TROF
ACROSS SRN CA. THIS FEATURE ALONG WITH STRONG DIFLUENCE ALOFT WAS
ENHANCING CIRRIFORM CLOUDS ARCING FROM SW-NE AZ. SURFACE ANALYSIS
INDICATED N-S BAROCLINIC AXIS EXTENDING NEAR GCN-PHX-W SELLS LINE
MOVING EWD. WINDS HAVE DECREASED SOMEWHAT DURING PAST FEW HOURS
ACROSS SERN CA/FAR SW AZ. UPPER SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS GREAT BASIN
TODAY THEN STALLS ACROSS NRN ROCKIES WED. PER COORD WITH WFO FLG
WILL OPT FOR WIND ADVISORY ZONES 19/30/35 AND RED FLAG WARNING ZONES
146/148 UNTIL 22/02Z WHERE MID-LEVEL GRADIENTS/FORCING SHOULD BE
SUFFICIENT TO MERIT CONDITIONS. APPEARS WINDS MAY ACTUALLY DECREASE
SOMEWHAT THIS AFTERNOON WRN SECTIONS AS FAIRLY STRONG COLD ADVECTION
OCCURS. COOLER TODAY ESPECIALLY CENTRAL/WRN SECTIONS AND LITTLE
SIGNIFICANT TEMP CHANGE WED THEN GRADUAL WARMING TREND COMMENCES
THUR-FRI ALTHOUGH WEAK TROUGH PROGGED OVER THE INTERMOUNTAIN
REGION. RATHER FLAT RIDGE TO MOVE ACROSS AZ SAT WITH FLOW ALOFT
BECOMING INCREASINGLY SWLY IN RESPONSE TO THE NEXT ERN PAC TROF.
THUS THE GRADUAL WARMING TREND TO CONTINUE INTO THE WEEKEND AS DRY
WEATHER PREVAILS.  BF

.TWC...WIND ADVISORY ZONES AZZ019-030-035 UNTIL 7 PM MST.
       RED FLAG WARNING FWX ZONES 146/148 UNTIL 7 PM MST.

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, Pima

When: May 21, 8:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Pima County, 15 mi SE of Mt Lemmon
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE
Coordinates: 32.097, -111.790 (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 Arizona in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Arizona, May 2002

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: 5294833.