Wildfire in Colorado, June 9 to 18, 2002

Name: Wildfire in Colorado, June 9 to 18, 2002
Start: 2002-06-09T15:00
End: 2002-06-18T23:59
Location: Colorado

June 9 to 18, 2002 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Lightning ignited a fire on the Tavaputs Plateau. Strong winds quickly spread the wildfire which consumed nearly 1500 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

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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 on the Tavaputs Plateau. Strong winds quickly spread the wildfire which consumed nearly 1500 acres of forest. This wildfire became known as the Long Canyon Fire, and later it was group named with other fires as the Miracle Complex. Total cost of fighting the Long Canyon Fire was about 550,000 dollars.

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, 2:09 PM MST, 51 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 9, 2:09 PM MST, 51 minutes before

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

EXTREME FIRE DANGER CONTINUES OVER THE FORECAST AREA THIS AFTERNOON
WITH SEVERAL WILDFIRES BURNING OUT OF CONTROL.  STRONG SOUTHWEST
WINDS CONTINUE TO FAN THE FIRES.  THE UPPER LOW OVER ID WILL
FINALLY START TO LIFT ENE AS A STRONG WAVE ROTATES AROUND THE BACK
EDGE OF THE SYSTEM.  THIS WILL HELP TO DRIVE THE ASSOCIATED SFC
COLD FRONT EAST INTO EASTERN UTAH AND NORTHWEST COLORADO.  IT
APPEARS THE FRONT WILL MAKE QUICK PROGRESS INTO FORECAST AREA THIS
EVENING AS IT HAS ALREADY PUSHED THROUGH KPUC IN EASTERN UT.  KVEL
WINDS ARE ALSO COMING AROUND SLOWLY.

THE STRONG WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO BLOW AHEAD OF THE FRONT...AND
CURRENT WIND ADVISORY AND RED FLAG WARNINGS WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT
THROUGH THIS EVENING...DETAILS BELOW.  FRONT WILL COME ACROSS DRY
WITH VIRTUALLY NO MOISTURE TO WORK WITH OVER OUR FORECAST AREA.
ONLY EXCEPTION IS A SLIVER OF MID LEVEL MOISTURE CLIPPING THE
NORTHERN ZONES TONIGHT. WL GO WITH PARTLY CLOUDY CONDS OVER THE
NORTH...ALTHOUGH WL REMOVE ANY MENTION OF SHWRS.

MONDAY PROMISES TO BE A COOLER AND LESS WINDY DAY WITH DRY CONDS
CONTINUING. H7 TEMPS DROP 6 TO 8 DEGREES OVER THE ENTIRE AREA AND
GUIDANCE NUMBERS GENERALLY ACCEPTED.  SFC GRADIENTS WL REMAIN
SUFFICIENT TO GENERATE BREEZY TO WINDY CONDS IN MOST AREAS.
HOWEVER...STRONG GUST POTENTIAL NOT AS GREAT AND DIRECTIONS WILL BE
MORE WESTERLY COMPARED TO THE LAST FEW DAYS. COLTON

(WED-SUN)...LOOKING DRY WITH WARMING TEMPS. SRN BRANCH OF THE UPPER
JET ACROSS ERN UT-WRN CO WED AND THU WILL HELP TO GUIDE ANY WEAK
DISTURBANCES THAT MAY BE EMBEDDED IN THE FLOW OVER THE FORECAST AREA.
AVN/AVNX HINT AT SOME MID-LEVEL MOISTURE...SO WILL MENTION SOME
CLOUDS MAINLY OVER THE CO MTNS WED/THU...BUT NO PRECIPITATION. RIDGE
FORECAST OVER THE AREA FRI THROUGH SUN FOR DRY AND VERY WARM
CONDITIONS. LATEST AVNX RUN NOW HOLDS PAC TROUGH OFFSHORE THROUGH
SUN...VERSUS ITS PREV RUN WHICH BROUGHT IT INLAND. STILL PREFER THIS
SLOWER PROGRESSION. JAD

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

.GJT...RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 2200 THIS EVENING FOR ALL OF EASTERN
       UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO FIRE ZONES.
    ...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 9 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR NORTHWEST AND
       WEST CENTRAL COLORADO ZONES CO001>009-011-013-017-020
       AND EASTERN UTAH ZONES UT022>025 AND UT027>029.
    ...RED FLAG WARNING MONDAY FROM 1200 TO 2000 FOR THE EASTERN
       UINTA MOUNTAINS IN NORTHEAST UTAH...NORTHWEST COLORADO AND
       ELEVATIONS ABOVE 7500 FEET OVER WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
       COLORADO.

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, Garfield

When: June 9, 3:00 PM MST to June 18, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Garfield County, 7 mi SSW of Douglas Pass
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.599, -107.904 (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

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: 5304212.