Wildfire in Arizona, May 21 to 22, 2002

Name: Wildfire in Arizona, May 21 to 22, 2002
Start: 2002-05-21T11:00
End: 2002-05-22T18:00
Location: Arizona

May 21 to 22, 2002 · NWS FGZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The Wiemer Fire burned 280 acres 14 miles northwest of Heber in Chevelon Canyon. The fire was human caused by a cigarette.

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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Wind
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Fire, smoke and dust
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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 FGZ wrote it up.

The Wiemer Fire burned 280 acres 14 miles northwest of Heber in Chevelon Canyon. The fire was human caused by a cigarette.

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 Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 21, 10:12 AM MST, 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 21, 10:12 AM MST, 48 minutes before

NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
930 AM MST TUE MAY 21 2002

.SYNOPSIS...A DRY STORM SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN
ARIZONA TODAY...BRINGING WINDY CONDITIONS AND COOLER TEMPERATURES.
WARMER AND LESS WINDY CONDITIONS WILL RETURN BY WEDNESDAY...
CONTINUING INTO THE MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND.

.DISCUSSION...CURRENT FORECAST PACKAGE TRACKING WELL FOR TODAY FOR
WIND AND TEMPERATURES. WINDS HAVE BEEN GOING ABOVE ADVISORY CRITERIA
THIS MORNING OVER IN THE CHUSKA MOUNTAINS...MOGOLLON RIM AND WHITE
MOUNTAINS. 700 MB TROUGH WILL BE PASSING A NORTH-SOUTH LINE RUNNING
THROUGH FLAGSTAFF BY AROUND 18Z...WINDS DECREASE QUICKLY BEHIND THIS
TROUGH. SO CURRENT ORIENTATION OF THE WIND ADVISORY LOOKS GOOD.
LATEST GUIDANCE IS WITHIN A DEGREE OR TWO OF THE FORECAST HIGHS FOR
TODAY...FGZ SOUNDING INDICATING AROUND 56 AT FLAGSTAFF...SO FORECAST
HIGHS TODAY LOOK GOOD AS WELL.

CLOUD COVER ACROSS THE NORTH IS TRENDING DIFFERENTLY THAN THE
FORECAST...LOOKING AT MODEL SOUNDINGS FROM THE LATEST
MESO-ETA...WOULD SUGGEST MORE CLOUDS IN THE ZONE FORECASTS BORDERING
UTAH. WE WILL BE UPDATING THE FORECAST FOR MORE CLOUDS NORTH.

.FGZ...RED FLAG WARNING FROM 9 AM UNTIL 7 PM MST FOR FIRE WEATHER
       ZONES 11/14/15/16/19/23/24
    ...WIND ADVISORY TODAY UNTIL 7 PM MST FOR PUBLIC ZONES
       11/12/13/14/16/17/18/40
    ...WIND ADVISORY TODAY UNTIL 1200 PM MST TODAY PUBLIC ZONE 15

.CODED TEMPERATURES/POPS FOR SELECTED CITIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA

CITY             TEMPERATURES HI/LO           PROBABILITY OF PRECIP
                 TDY TON   WED     THU        TDY TON   WED   THU
FLAGSTAFF        058/026 064/028 067/031      000 000 000 000 000 000
WINSLOW          073/035 077/039 082/042      000 000 000 000 000 000
PRESCOTT         066/037 074/041 077/044      000 000 000 000 000 000
PAGE             073/048 075/052 080/055      000 000 000 000 000 000
WINDOW ROCK      065/029 067/028 072/031      000 000 000 000 000 000
CANYON DE CHELLY 071/037 073/036 078/039      000 000 000 000 000 000
COTTONWOOD       077/044 085/048 088/051      000 000 000 000 000 000
GRAND CANYON     062/028 068/030 071/033      000 000 000 000 000 000
GREER            058/025 064/027 067/030      000 000 000 000 000 000
HEBER            065/027 071/029 074/032      000 000 000 000 000 000
JACOB LAKE       055/029 061/031 064/034      000 000 000 000 000 000
NAVAJO N.M.      063/034 065/033 070/036      000 000 000 000 000 000
PAYSON           071/037 079/041 082/044      000 000 000 000 000 000
SEDONA           074/043 082/047 085/050      000 000 000 000 000 000
SELIGMAN         068/029 076/033 079/036      000 000 000 000 000 000
SHOW LOW         067/035 073/037 076/040      000 000 000 000 000 000
ST. JOHNS        070/032 074/036 079/039      000 000 000 000 000 000
WUPATKI N.M.     075/039 079/043 084/046      000 000 000 000 000 000

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, Navajo

When: May 21, 11:00 AM MST to May 22, 6:00 PM MST
Where: Navajo County, Heber
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE
Coordinates: 35.400, -110.321 (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: 5300005.