Wildfire in Colorado, August 17 to 31, 2002

Name: Wildfire in Colorado, August 17 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-08-17T00:00
End: 2002-08-31T23:59
Location: Colorado

August 17 to 31, 2002 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The Mount Zirkel Complex was comprised of the Burn Ridge and Hinman fires. These fires occurred in the Routt National Forest/Mount Zirkel Wilderness area.

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: 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.

The Mount Zirkel Complex was comprised of the Burn Ridge and Hinman fires. These fires occurred in the Routt National Forest/Mount Zirkel Wilderness area. This complex of fires continued to burn through the end of August, consuming 30,696 acres of forest. Numerous homes were threatened by the fires. For a continuation on this complex of fires see the Mount Zirkel Complex entry in the September 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 16, 9:30 PM MST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 16, 9:30 PM MST, 2 hours 30 minutes before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
1030 PM MDT FRI AUG 16 2002

WINDS DECREASED MOST AREAS IN THE RED FLAG WARNING AREA BY 10
PM...SO ALLOWED THE WARNING TO EXPIRE. BUT BREEZY WEST WINDS SHOULD
DEVELOP NORTHERN MOUNTAIN ZONES SATURDAY AFTERNOON AS 60 KT
WESTERLY JET LEVEL WINDS MOVE BACK TO THE NORTHERN BORDER AND
EMBEDDED SHORT WAVE DISTURBANCE BRUSHES THE EXTREME NORTHERN PART OF
OUR CWA.  SO...THOUGH NOT A RFW SITUATION TOMORROW...BREEZY WINDS
WILL CONTINUE TO FAN FLAMES OF FIRES IN NORTHERN PART OF OUR CWFA....
WHILE TEMPS REMAIN HOT AND AIR MASS REMAINS EXTREMELY DRY.

RECORD HIGH TEMPS WERE BROKEN OR NEARLY BROKEN THROUGHOUT MUCH OF
OUR CWFA TODAY.  EXPECT MAX TEMPS ON SATURDAY TO BE AS HOT AS TODAY
IN AT LEAST THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF OUR CWFA...AND
ADDED THE MESSAGE OF NEAR RECORD HIGHS FOR THOSE ZONES SATURDAY.
EXPECT 1 TO 3 DEGREE LOWER MAX TEMPS FOR NORTHERN ZONES SATURDAY DUE
TO WEAK COOL AIR INTRUSION...THOUGH THE REBOUND COULD BE SOONER THAN
EXPECTED RESULTING IN NEAR RECORD HIGHS AGAIN TOMORROW IN MANY
NORTHERN LOCATIONS.  LATER SHIFTS WILL NEED TO TAKE A CLOSE LOOK AT
MORNING SOUNDING DATA AND FINAL MIN TEMPS TONIGHT...JUST IN CASE THE
EXPECTED SLIGHT COOLING DOES NOT HAPPEN UP NORTH ON SATURDAY.
PRINGLE

.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 17, 12:00 AM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Routt County, 23 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: 5320733.