Wildfire, San Miguel
- When
- July 9, 6:00 PM MST to July 21, 12:00 PM MST
- Where
- San Miguel County, 5 mi SW of Norwood
- Reported by
- OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
- Coordinates
- 38.004, -108.406 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Colorado, July 9 to 21, 2002
This widlfire was named the Burn Canyon fire and occurred in the Uncompahgre National Forest. The fire consumed 31,300 acres of forest.
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 widlfire was named the Burn Canyon fire and occurred in the Uncompahgre National Forest. The fire consumed 31,300 acres of forest. The cost of fighting the fire was 35.3 million dollars. Several structures were threatened and residences in the community of Redvale were evacuated.
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 9, 1:10 PM MST, 4 hours 50 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 9, 1:10 PM MST, 4 hours 50 minutes before
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 210 PM MDT TUE JUL 9 2002 CONVECTION BEGAN FIRING AGAIN AROUND...OR JUST AFTER MIDDAY. ACTIVITY AGAIN CONFINED LARGELY TO THE SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAIN AREAS SOUTHEAST OF THE DEFORMATION ZONE STRETCHING SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST FROM SOUTHEAST UT TO NORTH-CENTRAL CO WHERE BEST MOISTURE AVAILABLE ACCORDING TO WV IMAGERY. SOME MOISTURE NORTHWEST OF THE DEFORMATION EVIDENT IN WV IMAGERY FUELING SOME CONVECTION OVER THE ROAN AND TAVAPUTS PLATEAUS. LIKE PREVIOUS FEW DAYS...EXPECT THIS ACTIVITY TO CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING HOURS WITH A FEW CELLS MOVING OVER ADJACENT LOWER AREAS TO THE SOUTH LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. EXCEPTION IS ACROSS THE NORTHWEST PORTION OF THE CWFA WHERE MODELS SHOW AIRMASS TOO DRY TO SUPPORT MOIST CONVECTION. THIS CONFIRMED BY WV IMAGERY. TREND WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY IS TO GRADUALLY DRY THE NORTHERN ZONES WHILE SOUTHERN ZONES REMAIN RELATIVELY MOIST. THEREFORE...WILL CONTINUE WITH DIURNAL ACTIVITY SOUTH AND WILL PARE BACK POPS ACROSS THE NORTHERN ZONES. TEMPERATURES UNLIKELY TO SHOW MUCH CHANGE... THOUGH WITH CONTINUED NORTHERLY FLOW AND DRYING NORTH...EXPECT OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL BE A SHADE COOLER. NL FRIDAY-TUESDAY: WILL CONTINUE WITH PRESENT FORECAST OF SLIGHT CHANCE MOUNTAINS AS HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE DOMINATES THROUGH THE PERIOD. EARLY NEXT WEEK THE MID-RANGE MODELS CARRY A LOW CENTER (TROPICAL DEPRESSION?) NORTH ALONG THE WEST COAST OF BAJA. THIS SCENARIO WILL INCREASE MOISTURE OVER THE FORECAST AREA FROM THE SOUTH. HOWEVER ANY EFFECTS WILL BE LATE IN THE PERIOD WITH ENOUGH UNCERTAINTY...SO WILL NOT BREAK OUT TUE AT THIS TIME. HEFFERNAN .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
- Heat in California, July 9 to 15, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Maryland, July 9, 2002
- Wildfire in Oregon, July 9 to 26, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Flood in North Dakota, July 9 to 20, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Arizona, July 9, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in New York, July 9, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Missouri, July 9, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Lightning Strike in West Virginia, July 9 to 10, 2002
- Hail in Nebraska, July 9, 2002
- Tornado in Indiana, July 9, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Virginia, July 9, 2002
- Lightning Strike in New York, July 9, 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: 5317967.