Wildfire in Colorado, July 29 to 31, 2002

Name: Wildfire in Colorado, July 29 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-07-29T18:00
End: 2002-07-31T23:59
Location: Colorado

July 29 to 31, 2002 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

This lightning caused fire started in Mesa Verde National Park and was named the Long Mesa Fire. Mesa Verde National Park was closed and evacuated.

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 fire started in Mesa Verde National Park and was named the Long Mesa Fire. Mesa Verde National Park was closed and evacuated. Eighty residences and several of the National Park's offices and management buildings were threatened. This fire continued into the month of August. See the August 2002 Storm Data Publication for a continuation on this wildfire.

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 29, 11:00 AM MST, 7 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 29, 11:00 AM MST, 7 hours before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
1200 PM MDT MON JUL 29 2002

MAIN JET STREAM IS CURRENTLY WELL TO THE NORTH OVER SOUTHER CANADA...
WITH MOST OF THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE U.S. UNDER A ZONAL FLOW. A
LARGE AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE COVERS THE SOUTHWEST, BRINGING MOSTLY
CLEAR SKIES AND WARM TEMPERATURES.

THIS HIGH WILL DOMINATE THE REGION THROUGH MID WEEK. A STRONG AREA OF
SUBSIDENCE, COMBINED WITH A 700 MB WARM CORE DIRECTLY OVER THE FOUR
CORNERS, WILL RESULT IN ABOVE NORMAL DAYTIME TEMPERATURES THROUGHOUT
THE PERIOD. A WIDE VARIETY OF NIGHTTIME TEMPERATURES CAN ALSO BE
EXPECTED DUE TO GOOD RADIATIONAL COOLING VS WARMING DRAINAGE WINDS.

DRY CONDITIONS ARE ALSO FORECAST. MOISTURE IS VERY LIMITED WITH
UPPER LEVEL HUMIDITIES EXPECTED TO BE LESS THAN 30 PERCENT UP TO 250
MB. UPPER AIR SOUNDINGS OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS HAVE SHOWED A CAP
THAT HAS PRECLUDED AFTERNOON CONVECTION. THIS SHOULD REMAIN SO
THROUGH MID WEEK. THE ONLY EXCEPTION MAY BE THE SOUTHERN SAN JUAN
MOUNTAINS AS MOISTURE FROM DYING TROPICAL STORM ELIDA MAKES ITS
WAY INTO THE REGION.  BA

(THU-MON)...RIDGE SHIFTS EAST AS A SHORTWAVE MOVES INTO THE GREAT
BASIN LATE THU. THE SHORTWAVE WEAKENS AND RIDES NORTHEAST INTO THE
NORTHERN ROCKIES BY SAT.  FEEL THAT THU-SAT BEST DAYS...THEN THE
RIDGE EXPANDS WESTWARD WHICH IS NOT AS FAVORABLE FOR SOUTHERLY
MOISTURE. HOWEVER...WILL KEEP SLIGHT CHANCE OF DIURNAL THUNDERSTORMS
OVER MOUNTAINS AND SOUTH THROUGH THE PERIOD. WILL NOT CHANGE
TEMPERATURE TREND FOR COOLER HIGHS DUE TO INCREASED CLOUD COVER
THROUGH SAT. THEN WEAK WARMING TREND ON SUN AND MON.  HEFFERNAN

.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, Montezuma

When: July 29, 6:00 PM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Montezuma County, 9 mi SE of Cortez
Reported by: OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
Coordinates: 37.338, -108.597 (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: 5317879.