Wildfire in Colorado, July 26 to 31, 2002

Name: Wildfire in Colorado, July 26 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-07-26T12:00
End: 2002-07-31T23:59
Location: Colorado

July 26 to 31, 2002 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

This lightning caused wildfire occured in the Routt National Forest and was named the Big Fish Fire. This fire was included into the Lost Green Complex.

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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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 wildfire occured in the Routt National Forest and was named the Big Fish Fire. This fire was included into the Lost Green Complex. See the Lost Green Complex storm data entry for a continuation on this fire.

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 Jul 26, 1:26 AM MST, 10 hours 34 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 26, 1:26 AM MST, 10 hours 34 minutes before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
226 AM MDT FRI JUL 26 2002

BAND OF RAIN WITH EMBEDDED STORMS CONTINUES TO MOVE ACROSS THE
AREA AT 25-30 MPH. RAIN GAUGES IN GENERAL, HAVE BEEN REPORTING
AROUND ONE QUARTER INCH OF RAIN WITH SOME LOCAL AMOUNTS AROUND ONE
HALF INCH. RADAR ONE HOUR PRECIP ESTIMATES SHOWING AMOUNTS GENERALLY
IN THE ONE QUARTER TO ONE HALF INCH CATEGORY WITH LOCAL AMOUNTS NEAR
ONE INCH. LOOKS LIKE THERE IS ENOUGH MOVEMENT WITH THE PRECIPITATION
TO PREVENT MAJOR RUNOFF PROBLEMS. THE SHORTWAVE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS
PRECIPITATION IS LOCATED FROM SOUTHERN WY INTO CENTRAL UTAH WITH AN
UPPER JET STREAK NOSING INTO THE AREA ADDING SOME SUPPORT.

ENOUGH DYNAMICS ALOFT TO CONTINUE CHANCE POPS TODAY THROUGHOUT THE
FORECAST AREA. A FLAT WESTERLY FLOW REMAINS OVER THE AREA WITH UPPER
JET AXIS FORECAST TO CUT ACROSS EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO.
WIDESPREAD CLOUDS SHOULD GIVE WAY TO SOME CLEARING THIS MORNING,
ALLOWING LOWER ATMOSPHERE TO DESTABILIZE ENOUGH FOR SCATTERED
AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS ZONES. FLOW ALOFT
IS STRONG ENOUGH TO PUSH STORMS OFF HIGHER TERRAIN ACROSS THE
VALLEYS...BUT WILL STILL KEEP LOWER ELEVATION POPS LOW.

RIDGE STAYS SUPPRESSED TO THE SOUTH SATURDAY WITH MINOR RIPPLES IN
THE FLOW. CROSS SECTIONS SHOW THE MID AND UPPER LEVELS QUITE DRY
SATURDAY, BUT ENOUGH SURFACE MOISTURE TO CONTINUE MINIMAL POPS
ACROSS HIGH TERRAIN. THE AVN BRINGS A SHORTWAVE TROUGH ACROSS THE
AREA ON SUNDAY. LITTLE MOISTURE PROGGED WITH THIS SYSTEM AND LEFT
ENTRANCE REGION OF UPPER JET IS OVER THE AREA SO WILL KEEP POPS LOW
AND CONFINED MAINLY TO MOUNTAIN ZONES.

EXTENDED PERIODS...PER THE LATEST AVN...LOWER ATMOSPHERE DRIES SUNDAY
NIGHT AND MONDAY BEHIND THE SHORTWAVE TROUGH. WESTERLIES ARE THEN
FORECAST TO START RETREATING NORTH TUESDAY, ALLOWING THE UPPER HIGH
TO REFORM OVER THE FOUR CORNERS WITH AN INCREASE IN MOISTURE ACROSS
EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO BY WEDNESDAY. MEDIUM RANGE MODELS
GENERALLY SUPPORT THIS IDEA, WHICH WOULD BRING SOME WARMING AND
DIURNALLY DRIVEN CONVECTION BACK INTO THE PICTURE FOR THE MIDDLE OF
NEXT WEEK.

.GJT...NONE.

TAL

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: July 26, 12:00 PM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Routt County, 30 mi SW 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, July 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: 5317963.