Name: Wildfire in Colorado, June 9 to 30, 2002
Start: 2002-06-09T13:00
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.

An unknown ignition source in a dry ditch southeast of the first switchback on the Missionary Ridge Road started a forest fire which spread east , north, and south by changing wind directions. The fire became know as the Missionary Ridge fire and consumed just over 70,000 acres of forest before the end of the month, and destroyed at least 34 houses, with many others damaged. On June 17, a very intense fire whirl generated by the fire traveled through the northern periphery of Vallecito Reservoir, producing damage equivalent to an F2 tornado. Large spruce trees up to two feet in diameter were snapped off above the trunk, boats were picked up off the lake and hurled through the air to the other end of the lake, several vehicles were picked up and rolled, and a number of houses were damaged. Total fire damage and firefighting cost estimates were not yet available by the end of June, since this wildfire continued into July. See the July 2002 Storm Data publication for a continuation of this wildfire report.

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 9, 1:45 AM MST, 11 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 9, 1:45 AM MST, 11 hours 15 minutes before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
245 AM MDT SUN JUN 9 2002

MAIN FORECAST CONCERN CONTINUES TO BE STRONG WINDS AND FIRE WEATHER.

UPPER LOW CONTINUES TO SPIN ALONG THE ID/OR BORDER ON WV IMAGERY.
STRONG UPPER JET DIGGING SOUTH ALONG THE BACK SIDE OF THE LOW. QUASI-
STATIONARY SURFACE FRONT EXTENDING ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL WY THROUGH
CENTRAL UT. FRONT IS SITUATED BETWEEN ROCK SPRINGS AND VERNAL AND
EXPECT IT MIGHT DRIFT A LITTLE FURTHER NORTH EARLY THIS MORNING
WITH ENERGY MOVING INTO THE BASE OF THE TROUGH. VERY WARM SOUTHWEST
FLOW OVER THE AREA WITH MANY VALLEY TEMPERATURES CURRENTLY RUNNING
ABOUT 10 DEGREES WARMER THAN 24 HOURS AGO.

UPPER JET CORE FORECAST TO REMAIN ACROSS NORTHERN UT AND SOUTHWEST
WY THROUGH TONIGHT. MODELS IN FAIR AGREEMENT WITH THE LARGE SCALE
PICTURE BUT THE ETA IS ABOUT 10-15KTS WEAKER THAN THE AVN WITH THE
700MB WINDS TODAY. 88D VAD WIND PROFILE CURRENTLY SHOWING 55KTS AT
11K FEET...AND WITH THE STRONG JET MOVING THROUGH THE BASE OF THE
TROUGH...WILL FAVOR THE STRONGER AVN SOLUTION. AVN SOLUTION ALSO
INDICATES A LITTLE SLOWER PROGRESSION OF THE COLD FRONT. IN SHORT...
LOOKS LIKE A WINDY DAY ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA TODAY. VERY WARM
TEMPERATURES AND LOW RH AGAIN.

MODEL FIELDS SUGGEST THE COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST TONIGHT...
WITH WINDS NORTH OF THE I-70 CORRIDOR BECOMING WEST. ELSEWHERE...IT
LOOKS LIKE SOUTHWEST WIND COMPONENT WILL DOMINATE THROUGH THE
NIGHT. LOW CONFIDENCE IN TIMING THE SOUTHWARD PROGRESS OF THE FRONT.
PATTERN SUGGESTS THAT THE FRONT MAY HANG UP ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA.
COOLER TEMPS ON MONDAY THOUGH WITH LOWERING HEIGHTS. PRECIP CHANCES
CONTINUE TO LOOK MINIMAL. THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THERE SHOULD BE LESS
WIND MONDAY. TAL

(TUE-SAT)...UPPER TROUGH OVER SRN CANADA ON TUE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE
MOVING EAST. RIDGING THEN ON TAP FOR THE WESTERN U.S. WITH UPPER
HIGH WELL ENTRENCHED OVER NRN MEXICO. DRY AND WARMING W TO SW FLOW
ACROSS THE AREA...NOT GOOD NEWS FOR FIRE CONCERNS. AVN HINTS AT SOME
WEAK DISTURBANCES MOVING THROUGH FLOW ABOUT MIDWEEK...BUT NO MOISTURE
TO WORK ON. AVNX HAS RIDGE AXIS OVER ERN UT/WRN CO FRI-SAT FOR THE
WARMEST TEMPS...AND WILL BUMP UP TEMPS IN THE FORECAST. AVNX HAS
GULF OF AK TROUGH REACHING THE PAC NW COAST ON SAT...WHICH IS FASTER
THAN ITS PREV RUN AND ALSO THE 07/12Z EC. PREFER THE LESS
PROGRESSIVE SOLUTION FOR NOW.  JAD

WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH EMERGENCY MANAGERS SHOULD MAINTAIN
A HIGH LEVEL OF WEATHER AWARENESS TODAY DUE TO STRONG WINDS AND
CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS.

.GJT...RED FLAG WARNING THROUGH 2200 TODAY FOR ALL OF EASTERN
       UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO FIRE ZONES.
    ...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 9 PM MDT TODAY FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST
       CENTRAL COLORADO ZONES CO001>009-011-013-017-020 AND
       EASTERN UTAH ZONES UT022>025 AND UT027>029.

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 9, 1:00 PM MST to June 30, 11:59 PM MST
Where: La Plata County, 3 mi ENE of Hermosa
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
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: 5304208.