Name: Wildfire in Colorado, June 25 to 30, 2002
Start: 2002-06-25T15:00
End: 2002-06-30T23:59
Location: Colorado

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

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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.

Lightning ignited a fire in the Falls Creek area which adjoins the west side of the Animas Valley. The fire burned in a forested area and consumed 22 houses in the Falls Creek subdivision before the end of June. This wildfire was named the Valley Fire and persisted into July. The Valley Fire was included as part of the Missionary Ridge Fire Complex. See the July 2002 Storm Data publication for a continuation report of the Valley 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 Jun 25, 12:00 PM MST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 25, 12:00 PM MST, 3 hours before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
100 PM MDT TUE JUN 25 2002

RIDGE ASSOCIATED WITH A HIGH PRESSURE CENTER OVER THE FOUR CORNERS
AREA CONTINUES TO DEVELOP AND AMPLIFY. SUBSIDENCE WARMING WITH THIS
OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS SHOULD BUMP TEMPERATURES UP A FEW DEGREES.
ITS A SOMEWHAT DIRTY RIDGE...AND SMALL WAVES WILL BE MOVING
THROUGH THE FLOW THROUGHOUT THE WEEK. HOWEVER, MOISTURE IS LIMITED
AND PRIMARILY ALOFT. SO, EXPECT MOSTLY HIGH-BASED CONVECTION WITH DRY
LIGHTNING AND STRONG OUTFLOW FROM VIRGA. GRADIENT WINDS WILL LIKELY
BE STRONGER ON WEDNESDAY NEAR THE DIVIDE FROM EASTERN
COLORADO THUNDERSTORM OUTFLOW.

FURTHER RIDGE AMPLIFICATION IS EXPECTED ON THURSDAY...WITH SIMILAR
CONDITIONS EXPECTED THAT DAY AS WELL. LITTLE IN THE WAY OF UPPER
LEVEL DYNAMICS, SO WIDESPREAD CONVECTION IS NOT EXPECTED. BA

FRIDAY-TUESDAY...RIDGE REMAINS OVERHEAD THRU THE PERIOD. INFESTED
MID-LEVEL MOISTURE KEEPS DRY GUSTY LATE-DAY THUNDERSTORMS IN FOR
EACH DAY. BY TUESDAY...NORTHERN BRANCH TROF TRIES TO PHASE WITH
CUTOFF LOW OFF THE BAJA. LOCALLY THIS WILL INCREASE A DRIER SW FLOW
OVER NE UTAH AND EXTREME NW COLORADO.  RAMEY

.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, La Plata

When: June 25, 3:00 PM MST to June 30, 11:59 PM MST
Where: La Plata County, 3 mi SSW of Hermosa
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 37.287, -107.843 (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

More

Every storm in Colorado in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5304219.