Wildfire in Arizona, May 4, 2002

Name: Wildfire in Arizona, May 4, 2002
Start: 2002-05-04T08:45
End: 2002-05-04T18:00
Location: Arizona

May 4, 2002 · NWS FGZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The "Little Fire" burned 8800 acres of grass and brush 10 miles west of Springerville between Highway 260 and Highway 60.

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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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: 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 "Little Fire" burned 8800 acres of grass and brush 10 miles west of Springerville between Highway 260 and Highway 60.

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 4, 2:58 AM MST, 5 hours 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 4, 2:58 AM MST, 5 hours 47 minutes before

NORTHERN ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
250 PM MST SAT MAY 04 2002

.SYNOPSIS...DRY WEATHER WITH SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES
IS EXPECTED TO PERSIST OVER NORTHERN ARIZONA INTO NEXT WEEK. BREEZY
SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL DEVELOP AS A SERIES OF DISTURBANCES MOVE THROUGH
THE GREAT BASIN AREA. ONE OF THESE WILL BRING AN INCREASE IN CLOUDS
AND A COOLING TREND TO NORTHERN ARIZONA TOWARDS THE END OF THE COMING
WEEK.

.DISCUSSION...BROAD TROF TO REMAIN OVER THE WESTERN U.S. THRU THE
PERIOD. A DRY WEST TO SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT IS EXPECTED FOR MOSTLY
CLEAR SKIES ACROSS THE CWA. SOME FAIR WEATHER CU POSSIBLE DURING THE
AFTERNOONS NEAR THE UT BORDER AS THIS AREA NEAREST TO MOISTURE POOL
OVER UT. MAIN WX FEATURE WILL BE AN INCREASE IN SFC WINDS WITH TIME.
ANOTHER TROF BEGINS TO DROP SOUTH OUT OF THE PAC NW ON SUNDAY. THIS
WILL TIGHTEN GRADIENTS ACROSS THE DESERT SW. LOOKING FOR AN INCREASE
IN SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW WITH BREEZY CONDITIONS RETURNING ON SUNDAY AND
CONTINUING THRU THE WEEK. TEMPERATURES TO REMAIN NEAR TO SLIGHTLY
ABOVE NORMAL BEFORE COOLING SOME BY THE END OF THE WEEK.

EXTENDED....AVN/ECMWF ON SAME PAGE WITH DEEP WEST COAST TROF
DEVELOPING TOWARD END OF THE WEEK. THE AVN IS A LITTLE DEEPER WITH
THE TROF THAN THE ECMWF. MAIN AFFECT ON NORTHERN AZ WILL BE THE
RETURN OF WINDY CONDITIONS BY FRIDAY. ATTM PROGS INDICATE RH MAINLY
UPPER LEVEL SO WILL KEEP FCST DRY. DF

.FGZ...NONE

.CODED TEMPERATURES/POPS FOR SELECTED CITIES IN NORTHERN ARIZONA

CITY             TEMPERATURES HI/LO           PROBABILITY OF PRECIP
                 TDY TON   SUN     MON        TDY TON   SUN   MON
FLAGSTAFF        067/028 068/031 067/030      000 000 000 000 000 000
WINSLOW          078/040 079/042 079/041      000 000 000 000 000 000
PRESCOTT         076/042 076/043 075/042      000 000 000 000 000 000
PAGE             079/052 080/055 079/054      000 000 000 000 000 000
WINDOW ROCK      070/030 071/032 070/031      000 000 000 000 000 000
CANYON DE CHELLY 076/038 077/040 076/039      000 000 000 000 000 000
COTTONWOOD       087/049 087/050 086/049      000 000 000 000 000 000
GRAND CANYON     071/030 072/033 071/032      000 000 000 000 000 000
GREER            067/027 068/030 067/029      000 000 000 000 000 000
HEBER            074/029 075/032 074/031      000 000 000 000 000 000
JACOB LAKE       064/031 065/034 064/033      000 000 000 000 000 000
NAVAJO N.M.      068/035 069/037 068/036      000 000 000 000 000 000
PAYSON           081/042 081/043 080/042      000 000 000 000 000 000
SEDONA           084/048 084/049 083/048      000 000 000 000 000 000
SELIGMAN         078/034 078/035 077/034      000 000 000 000 000 000
SHOW LOW         076/037 077/040 076/039      000 000 000 000 000 000
ST. JOHNS        075/037 076/039 076/038      000 000 000 000 000 000
WUPATKI N.M.     080/044 081/046 081/045      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, Apache

When: May 4, 8:45 AM MST to 6:00 PM MST
Where: Apache County, Springerville
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE
Coordinates: 35.396, -109.489 (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: 5298980.