Name: Wildfire in Colorado, May 1 to 5, 2002
Start: 2002-05-01T16:00
End: 2002-05-05T16:00
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 which consumed 148 acres of a wooded area. 150 people fought the fire. The cost of fighting the fire was 223 thousand 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 May 1, 1:45 PM MST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 1, 1:45 PM MST, 2 hours 15 minutes before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
245 PM MDT WED MAY 1 2002

ENERGY FROM GREAT BASIN CLOSED LOW SHEARING EASTWARD AND SKIRTS
ACROSS THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE FORECAST AREA THIS EVENING.
DEFORMATION CLOUD OVER WYOMING IS SLOWLY SAGGING SOUTHWARD TOWARD
NORTHWESTERN COLORADO.  BUT THIS CLOUD BAND IS STRETCHING WITH
WARMING CLOUD TOPS.. SO ITS IMPACT ON SENSIBLE WEATHER OVER
NORTHWEST COLORADO WILL BE MINIMAL.  MARGINAL INSTABILITY HAS
PRODUCED SOME AFTERNOON CUMULI GENERALLY NORTH OF I70.. BUT LOW
LEVEL MOISTURE LACKING WITH DEW POINTS AT VERNAL AND CRAIG AROUND
10F.  ONLY THUNDERSTORMS THUS FAR AS BEEN LIMITED TO THE EASTERN
UINTA MOUNTAINS.  EXPECT SCATTERED BRIEF SHOWERS OVER THE NORTHERN
MOUNTAINS THIS EVENING.. OTHERWISE DRY CONDITIONS PREVAIL WITH WINDS
SUBSIDING AFTER SUNSET.

REMNANTS OF GREAT BASIN UPPER LOW MOVES ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA
THURSDAY EVENING AS A WEAK OPEN WAVE.  UPSTREAM COLD AIR SUPPORT
HAS ALREADY BEEN CUT OFF.. THUS THIS WAVE WILL CONTINUE TO WEAKEN
AS IT MOVES TOWARD WESTERN COLORADO.  COLD POCKET ALOFT DOES NOT
APPEAR SUFFICIENT ENOUGH TO PRODUCE MUCH SHOWER ACTIVITY.. AND THE
ETA MODEL KEEPS ENTIRE FORECAST AREA DRY.  WILL NOT GO TO THAT
EXTREME.. BUT WILL ONLY MENTION SLIGHT CHANCE FOR THE MOUNTAINS
DURING THE AFTERNOON.  WINDS ALOFT WILL BE LIGHT AND VARIABLE.. SO
ANY SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL BE SHORT LIVED WITH DEBRIS CLOUDS DRIFTING
OVER THE VALLEYS.

WEST NORTHWEST FLOW PERSISTS INTO FRIDAY.. BUT JET ENERGY WILL BE
NORTH OF COLORADO.. SO SOME CLOUDS BUT NO PRECIPITATION EXPECTED.
AFTERNOON BREEZES IN THE HIGHER VALLEYS RETURN.  FRISBIE

SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY:  AS THE UPPER LOW FORMS OVER WESTERN
B.C. THIS WEEKEND...THE TRAILING WAVE OVER THE SOUTHWEST U.S. MOVES
EAST. MIDRANGE MODELS CONTINUE WITH FAIR CONSISTENCY...HOWEVER IT NOW
LOOKS LIKE SUN WILL HAVE THE BETTER...ALBEIT LOW...CHANCE. WILL
ADJUST FORECAST A BIT FOR SAT/SUN.  LATEST MODEL RUNS ARE TENDING TO
KEEP THE CUTOFF A BIT FURTHER EAST...THEN OPENING IT UP BY EARLY TUE.
LOOK LIKES THE TRACK WILL BE PREDOMINANTLY TO OUR NORTH. THEREFORE
WILL ADD SLIGHT CHANCE ONLY OVER THE NORTH FOR WED.  HEFFERNAN

.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: May 1, 4:00 PM MST to May 5, 4:00 PM MST
Where: La Plata County, 2 mi SW of Breen
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, May 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: 5300016.