Wildfire, Gunnison
- When
- June 23, 2:00 PM MST to June 30, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Gunnison County, 3 mi N of Gunnison
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 38.667, -107.032 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Colorado, June 23 to 30, 2002
Lightning ignited a wildfire on private property which spread quickly to BLM land due to strong winds. A number of people were evacuated from residences in the area.
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.
Lightning ignited a wildfire on private property which spread quickly to BLM land due to strong winds. A number of people were evacuated from residences in the area. This wildfire became known as the Wiley Ridge Fire and continued through the end of the month. See the July 2002 Storm Data publication for the remainder of the report 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 Jun 23, 1:10 PM MST, 50 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 23, 1:10 PM MST, 50 minutes before
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 210 PM MDT SUN JUN 23 2002 AS THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILDS NORTH OVER THE ROCKIES TEMPERATURES WILL INCREASE 3-5 DEGREES EACH DAY THROUGH TUE. THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW HAS DECREASED AND WILL CONTINUE THIS TREND AS THE RIDGE BUILDS. NO RELIEF IS EXPECTED FROM THE VERY DRY CONDITIONS AND WILL TAKE OUT SLIGHT CHANCE MENTIONED FOR TUE AT THIS TIME. VORT CENTERS DO ROTATE AROUND THE HIGH AND ACROSS THE AREA BUT CROSS SECTIONS KEEP US DRY. WILL INCREASE NIGHTTIME TEMPERATURES MANY ZONES TO BETTER REFLECT LATEST OBSERVATIONS. OTHERWISE LITTLE CHANGE TO FORECAST. HEFFERNAN WEDNESDAY-SUNDAY...FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS CONTINUE WITH HOT TEMPERATURES AND POSSIBLE DRY THUNDERSTORMS. RIDGE AXIS BUILDS DIRECTLY OVER THE CWA AND PERHAPS RETROGRADES SLIGHTLY INTO UTAH BY NEXT WEEKEND. WITH HEIGHTS ABOVE 590DAM...TEMPERATURES WILL BE ABOUT 10-15 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL AND NEAR RECORD...WITH TRIPLE DIGITS IN THE VALLEYS. THE AVN/GFS INDICATES THE RIDGE WILL GAIN SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE CENTERED ON 500MB AS EARLY AS THURSDAY. THOUGH THE AVN OFTEN OVER DOES HIGH-LEVEL MOISTURE ADVECTION...WITH THE RIDGE HIGHLY AMPLIFIED A GOOD SOUTHERN FETCH SEEMS REASONABLE. THIS WOULD BRING AT LEAST A CHANCE OF LATE-DAY VIRGA-ENHANCED WIND GUSTS AND POSSIBLE LIGHTNING STRIKES. RAMEY BEGINNING FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2002, A HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED ON AN EVENT DRIVEN BASIS FOR COUNTIES IN WESTERN COLORADO AND EXTREME EASTERN UTAH. ON SUNDAY JULY 21, 2002, THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL OFFICIALLY REPLACE THE MESSAGE TO EMERGENCY MANAGERS INCLUDED IN THE EARLY MORNING AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION. THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED USING THE SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT PRODUCT IDENTIFIER. .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
- Tornadoes in South Dakota, June 23, 2002
- Flash Flood and Lightning Strike in Wisconsin, June 23 to 24, 2002
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Maine, June 23 to 24, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in South Dakota, June 23 to 24, 2002
- Tornado in North Dakota, June 23, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in North Dakota, June 23, 2002
- Damaging Winds in New York, June 23, 2002
- Damaging Winds in New Hampshire, June 23, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Vermont, June 23, 2002
- Marine Thunderstorm Wind in St. Lawrence River, June 23, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Vermont, June 23, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Vermont, June 23, 2002
More
Every storm in Colorado in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, June 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: 5304215.