Wildfire in Colorado, August 13 to 16, 2002

Name: Wildfire in Colorado, August 13 to 16, 2002
Start: 2002-08-13T16:00
End: 2002-08-16T16:00
Location: Colorado

August 13 to 16, 2002 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

This lightning caused fire became known as the Burn Ridge fire. The fire occurred in the Routt National Forest and consumed 3,000 acres of mixed timber by August 16th.

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
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Wind
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Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
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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.

This lightning caused fire became known as the Burn Ridge fire. The fire occurred in the Routt National Forest and consumed 3,000 acres of mixed timber by August 16th. The fire was included as part of the Mount Zirkel Complex after the 16th of the month. For a continuation of this fire see the Mount Zirkel Complex entry in the August 2002 Storm Data publication.

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 Aug 13, 11:58 AM MST, 4 hours 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 13, 11:58 AM MST, 4 hours 2 minutes before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
1258 PM MDT TUE AUG 13 2002

IN ONE SENTENCE...DRY WITH A WARMING TREND IN THE SHORT RANGE. A
NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT HAS BROUGHT COOLER (7-10 DEGREES) H7 TEMPS TO
THE REGION ALONG WITH SOME HIGH CLOUDINESS. SKIES ARE EXPECTED TO
CLEAR TONIGHT ALLOWING FOR GOOD RADIATIONAL COOLING...WITH LOW
TEMPERATURES MOSTLY LIKELY DROPPING A LITTLE BELOW NORMAL VALUES.
P-GRADS STRONG ENOUGH TO KEEP LCL AREAS OF NW WINDS UNTIL AROUND
SUNSET SPCLY SOUTH...THEN DRAINAGE WINDS WILL PREDOMINATE. THE
NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY...WITH NO BIG
CHANGES EXCEPT FOR A WARMING TREND. MDLS INDICATE A COUPLE OF WEAK
WAVES IN FLOW...BUT MOISTURE TO SPARSE TO HAVE ANY SENSIBLE EFFECT ON
WX ALTHOUGH SURFACE WINDS MAY EXHIBIT SOME VARIABILITY. BY FRIDAY
THE FLOW ALOFT BACKS TO THE WEST STILL KEEPING MONSOON MSTR
SUPPRESSED TO THE SOUTH AS THE NEXT TROF DEVEOPLS OVER THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST.

EXTENDED PERIOD (SAT THRU TUE): MRF SEEMS TO HAVE A REASONABLE TREND
WITH GOOD CONTINUITY BTWN RUNS...SO EXTENDED BASED MAINLY ON IT.
TROUGH OVER PACNW BEGINS TO PUSH ESE SAT WITH SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT
INCREASING A BIT OVER ERN UT/WRN CO...THIS PUSHES MIDLEVEL MOISTURE
EAST. ONLY MOISTURE LEFT AT 500 MB AND ABOVE OVER THE CO SAN JUAN
MTNS. SUNDAY APPEARS DRY ACROSS THE AREA WITH SW FLOW INCREASING A
BIT MORE. ON MON AND TUE STRONGER WIND BAND...WITH VERY WARM AND DRY
CONDITIONS OVER THE AREA. WILL INTRODUCE BREEZY CONDITIONS THAT WILL
RAISE FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS.

.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, Routt

When: August 13, 4:00 PM MST to August 16, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Routt County, 25 mi N of Steamboat Spgs
Reported by: OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
Coordinates: 40.485, -106.991 (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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Colorado, August 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: 5320730.