Wildfire, Garfield
- When
- July 5, 6:00 PM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Garfield County, 37 mi N of Glenwood Spgs
- Reported by
- OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
- Coordinates
- 39.599, -107.904 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Colorado, July 5 to 31, 2002
This lightning caused wildfire became known as the Big Fish fire and occured in the Flat Tops Wilderness area of the White River National Forest. This fire continued to burn through the end of July and was included as part of the Lost Green Complex near the end of the month.
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
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 became known as the Big Fish fire and occured in the Flat Tops Wilderness area of the White River National Forest. This fire continued to burn through the end of July and was included as part of the Lost Green Complex near the end of the month. See the August 2002 Storm Data Publication 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 5, 1:57 PM MST, 4 hours 3 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 5, 1:57 PM MST, 4 hours 3 minutes before
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 257 PM MDT FRI JUL 5 2002 RESIDUAL MOISTURE LEFTOVER FROM PREVIOUS DAYS CONVECTION CONTINUES TO PROVIDE FUEL FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO THIS AFTERNOON. CONVECTION ANCHORED TO THE HIGHER TERRAIN FOR THE MOST PART...BUT SOME STORMS WILL DRIFT INTO THE VALLEYS...BRINGING GUSTY WINDS AND SOME RAIN. THE OLD UPPER LOW HAS DROPPED INTO CENTRAL NEW MEXICO THIS AFTERNOON WITH EAST TO SOUTHEAST STEERING FLOW MOVING OUR STORMS IN A MORE SOUTHWEST DIRECTION TODAY. SFC DEW PTS HAVE DROPPED BACK DOWN INTO THE UPPER 30S TO LOWER 40S IN MOST AREAS WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE I- 70 CORRIDOR...WHERE UPPER 40S ARE HOLDING. A SHRTWV LIFTING NE INTO WRN UTAH LATE THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE HEADING INTO OUR AREA THIS EVENING. MODELS NOT REALLY PICKING UP ON THIS FEATURE VERY WELL. SFC METARS INDICATING ASSOCIATED CLOUD SHIELD IS HIGH BASED WITH ONLY A FEW LIGHTNING STRIKES ON THE NRN END OF THE WAVE. AS THIS WAVE MOVES INTO THE REGION THIS EVENING...EXPECT THE ALREADY WEAK SUBSIDENCE INVERSION ALOFT TO WEAKEN FURTHER...SO A FEW MORE EVENING STORMS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION. THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BE STRENGTHENING OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS... WITH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE SLOWLY ERODING. HOWEVER...CONTD RECYCLING OF REMNANT MOISTURE WL ENOUGH FOR MORE ISOLATED AFTERNOON CONVECTION...ESPECIALLY OVER THE FAVORED HIGHER TERRAIN. TEMPS WL BE ON THE INCREASE ONCE AGAIN...WITH A RUN AT TRIPLE DIGITS EXPECTED AT SEVERAL OF THE LOWER VALLEYS BY THE START OF THE NEW WEEK. JDC EXTENDED (TUE-FRI)...WILL TONE DOWN THE WORDING FOR THUNDERSTORMS THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD. A LARGE RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL DEVELOP OVER THE WESTERN U.S., CENTERING OVER THE FOUR CORNERS AREA. ZONAL FLOW OVER THE NORTHERN PART OF THE COUNTRY WILL KEEP MOST OF THE STRONGER SHORTWAVES WELL NORTH OF OUR AREA. A FEW WEEK WAVES ARE FORECAST TO MOVE THROUGH THE RIDGE...BUT DUE TO LIMITED MOISTURE AND STRONG SUBSIDENCE, ITS UNLIKELY THAT THERE WILL BE MUCH IN THE WAY OF CONVECTION. SOME OF THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS MAY SEE SOME AFTERNOON ACTIVITY, BUT THE MAJORITY OF THE CWA SHOULD REMAIN HOT AND DRY. BA .GJT...NONE.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 5, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Texas, July 5, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Louisiana, July 5, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Virginia, July 5, 2002
- Wildfire in New York, July 5 to 7, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Hail in North Carolina, July 5, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Hail in New Mexico, July 5, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Texas, July 5, 2002
- Waterspouts in Gulf of Mexico, July 5, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Texas, July 5, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, July 5, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Colorado, July 5, 2002
More
Every storm in Colorado in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5317964.