Lightning, San Miguel
- When
- June 27, 4:00 PM MST
- Where
- San Miguel County, 15 mi S of Norwood
- Property damage
- $3,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 38.004, -108.406 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning Strike in Colorado, June 27, 2002
Lightning strikes near the West Beaver Fire on Lone Cone Mountain ignited three new wildfires which were contained by fire fighters within several hours. One lightning bolt struck a fuel truck servicing helicopters used in fighting the fires.
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
- $3,000
- 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 strikes near the West Beaver Fire on Lone Cone Mountain ignited three new wildfires which were contained by fire fighters within several hours. One lightning bolt struck a fuel truck servicing helicopters used in fighting the fires. The entire electrical system of the fuel truck was destroyed. The driver of the truck was uninjured.
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 27, 1:00 PM MST, 3 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 27, 1:00 PM MST, 3 hours before
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
200 PM MDT THU JUN 27 2002
SITUATION TODAY LOOKS QUITE SIMILAR TO WX PATTERN ON FRIDAY OF
LAST WEEK...EXCEPT THAT SURFACE DEW POINT TEMPS ARE NOT QUITE AS HIGH
AS LAST FRIDAY. SHORTWAVE TROF EMBEDDED IN SW FLOW ALOFT STILL
EVIDENT IN WATER VAPOR IMAGERY. THIS SHOULD HELP CONTINUE INCREASED
LIFT AND INCREASED AREAL COVERAGE OF CONVECTIVE CLOUDS THROUGH
THIS EVENING OVER YESTERDAY. ALTHOUGH SFC DEW POINT TEMPS OVER OUR
CWA ARE UP A LITTLE FROM YESTERDAY...THANKS TO OUTFLOW BOUNDARY WHICH
ORIGINATED FROM LARGE CONVECTION TO THE EAST LAST NIGHT...AIR MASS IS
NONETHELESS STILL QUITE DRY IN LOWER LEVELS. SO THUNDERSTORMS TODAY
STILL EXPECTED TO PRODUCE LIGHTNING AND GUSTY WINDS. ALTHOUGH THEY
ARE NOT TOTALLY DRY...PRECIP IS STILL NOT EXPECTED TO BE SIGNIFICANT
ENOUGH TO BE CONSIDERED A WETTING RAIN. A TENTH OF AN INCH IS ABOUT
THE HIGHEST TO EXPECT IN OUR CWA THROUGH THIS EVENING...MAINLY IN THE
WESTERN COLO MOUNTAINS. STRONG OUTFLOW WINDS ALREADY OCCURRING...
THOUGH OVERALL SHOULD NOT BE QUITE AS STRONG AS YESTERDAY DUE TO
HIGHER DEW POINT TEMPS THAN YESTERDAY...INSTEAD OF GUSTS TO 50 MPH
LIKE WE HAD YESTERDAY...SHOULD BE MORE AROUND 40 MPH TODAY.
DO NOT SEE ANY MAJOR CHANGES FOR OUR AREA FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...
THOUGH WOULD EXPECT SOME DRYING AS THE MODELS SUGGEST DUE TO
UPPER TROF OFF PACIFIC NW COAST SENDING A SIGNIFICANT SHORTWAVE
INLAND AND TURNING OUR FLOW FROM S TO SW AT MID LEVELS. SO FOR
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY CONTINUED HOT...LESS CLOUDS THAN TODAY...AND
DWINDLING CHANCE OF SPRINKLES ALTHOUGH DIURNAL CONVECTION STILL
LIKELY TO PRODUCE A FEW AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING THUNDERSTORMS
MAINLY OVER THE MOUNTAINS. PRINGLE
EXTENDED...MONDAY THROUGH INDEPENDENCE DAY. WE CONTINUE WITH HIGH
PRESSURE WONDERING AROUND THE SOUTHWEST. NUMERICAL GUIDANCE KEEPING
EDP UP IN THE HIGH 30S AND LOW 40S. NOT MUCH IN WAY DYNAMICS MOVING
IN BUT DP AND TEMPS HIGH ENOUGH TO KEEP SOME MOUNTAIN CONVECTION AND
NEW OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES TO WORK WITH EACH DAY. WILL THEREFORE KEEP A
PRESISTANT FORECAST OF SLIGHT CHANCE FOR LOW PRECIP THUNDERSTORMS
IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD FOR ALL BUT SW UTAH WHERE I WILL REMOVE
MENTION OF PRECIP. DJC/21
.GJT...RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR ALL OF EXTREME EASTERN
UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO.The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Lightning
- A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Lightning Strike in New York, June 27, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Louisiana, June 27, 2002
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strikes in Massachusetts, June 27, 2002
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Indiana, June 27, 2002
- Damaging Winds in New York, June 27, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in New York, June 27, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, June 27, 2002
- Damaging Wind in New York, June 27, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Ohio, June 27, 2002
- Lightning Strike in New York, June 27, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Illinois, June 27, 2002
- Flash Flood in Louisiana, June 27, 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: 5304213.