Continued from the previous month. The Million Fire was contained on Independence Day, after consuming 9300 acres.
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.
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.
The episode as NWS PUB wrote it up.
Continued from the previous month. The Million Fire was contained on Independence Day, after consuming 9300 acres.
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 Pueblo, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 30, 12:56 PM MST, 11 hours 5 minutes earlier.
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST COLORADO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO COLORADO 156 PM MDT SUN JUN 30 2002 ...CORRECTED RECORD INFORMATION TODAY... CURRENT...HOT DAY TODAY...TIED A RECORD HIGH OF 103 SO FAR IN PUEBLO. CONVECTION TRYING TO BREAK OUT OVER EXTREME SOUTHERN SANGRES AND ALONG CONVERGENCE LINE IN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY. THINK ACTIVITY WILL BE SPARSE AT BEST WITH WARM CAPPED ATMOSPHERE AND LOW CAPES. MONDAY/TUESDAY...RAISED BOTH HIGH TEMPS AND LOW TEMPS A SMIDGE ACROSS THE BOARD...AS 700 MB TEMPS PEAK MONDAY AT 16-20 C THEN COOL ONLY SLIGHTLY FOR TUESDAY. WILL KEEP DIURNAL POPS...AS SYSTEM MOVING INTO TEXAS PROGGED TO REMAIN TO OUR EAST...WITH LEE TROF TO KEEP LOW LEVEL MOISTURE OUT OF PLAINS TOMORROW. EXPECT EXTREMELY ISOLATED ACTIVITY OVER MTNS AND ADJACENT PLAINS...WITH 500 MB TEMPS AT -6C AND NO LARGE SCALE SYNOPTIC LIFT TO SPEAK OF. NEXT FRONTAL BOUNDARY TUESDAY BRINGS MAINLY A WINDSHIFT TO UPSLOPE. 850MB WINDS TURN SOUTH/SOUTHEAST LATER TUESDAY AFTER WIND SHIFT...AND BEGIN TO TAP INTO LOW LEVEL MOISTURE FROM TEXAS SYSTEM. THETA E VALUES INCREASE LATE TUESDAY. AVN STILL GENERATING SOME KIND OF FEEDBACK OVER THE MOUNTAINS TUESDAY LATE. THINK ITS RESPONDING TO INCREASED/POOLING OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND LOW TERRAIN RESOLUTION. WEDNESDAY...SUBTROPICAL LOW PROGGED TO BE OVER TX/OK PANHANDLES... WITH ASSOCIATED VORTICITY STILL JUST EAST OF CWA IN KANSAS. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE CONTINUES TO INCREASE...AND TEMPS BEGIN TO COOL IN RESPONSE TO 11-12C AT 700MB. WENT SLIGHT CHANCE POPS ALL AREAS ALL DAY...BECOMING CHANCE OVERNIGHT. THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...TROF MOVES OVER COLORADO...OPENS UP AND JOINS NORTHERN FLOW...LEAVING CWA IN AREA OF GENERAL DYNAMIC LIFT AND INCREASED LOW LEVEL MOISTURE. TROF THEN BEGINS TO RIDE UP RIDGE WHICH HAD BEEN PUSHED EASTWARD INTO THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. WENT CHANCE POPS ALL TIMES ALL ZONES FOR THIS SCENARIO. LONG AND SHORT IS THAT PATTERN IS QUITE UNSETTLED AND UNCERTAIN... RELYING ON MODELS TO HANDLE BOTH A SUBTROPICAL SYSTEM MOVING ONSHORE IN THE SOUTH AND A CUTOFF LOW MOVING ONSHORE THE WEST COAST. THERES NO STRONG JET TO SCOUR OUT/MOVE SOUTHERN SYSTEM THOUGH...SO GENERAL TREND WAS TO GO CHANCE POPS THROUGH EARLY SATURDAY AS MOISTURE INCREASES AND SYSTEM MOVES IN/OVER THE CWA...THEN SLIGHT CHANCE AFTERWARD WITH NO TIMERS (ALL DAY) AS SYSTEM MAY LIFT NORTHEAST AND BACK OVER THE AREA. KEPT SLIGHTLY COOLER/NEAR CLIMO TEMPS. .PUB...NONE.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, July 2002
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: 5307573.