Wildfire in Colorado, May 12 to 27, 2002

Name: Wildfire in Colorado, May 12 to 27, 2002
Start: 2002-05-12T16:00
End: 2002-05-27T19:00
Location: Colorado

May 12 to 27, 2002 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Lightning strikes ignited several fires in the Bucktail Creek area on the Uncompahgre Plateau and consumed 3633 acres of forest. 025 million dollars.

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
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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 strikes ignited several fires in the Bucktail Creek area on the Uncompahgre Plateau and consumed 3633 acres of forest. The fire was named the Bucktail Complex and the fire fighting cost was1.025 million dollars. 350 people fought the 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 May 12, 12:09 PM MST, 3 hours 51 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 12, 12:09 PM MST, 3 hours 51 minutes before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
109 PM MDT SUN MAY 12 2002

LOW CENTER MOVED EAST AND OUT OF CWA THIS MORNING. WRAPAROUND
MOISTURE AND MINOR CONVECTIVE CELLS OVER CENTRAL MOUNTAINS MOVING
EAST AS WELL. CLOUDS DISSIPATING OVER ERN UT AND ALONG CO/UT BORDER
AND THIS TREND WILL CONTINUE REST OF THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
CLEAR SKIES OVERNIGHT WILL ALLOW GOOD RADIATIONAL CLEARING...SO
WHERE RAIN FELL THIS MORNING PATCHY FOG SHOULD FORM IN LOW-LYING
AREAS LATER TONIGHT. DRY SHORTWAVE RIDGING WILL PASS OVERHEAD MON
FOLLOWED BY INCREASING HIGH CLOUDINESS TUE IN ADVANCE OF NEXT
PACIFIC SYSTEM. MODELS TAKE THIS TROUGH CLOSE TO U.S./CAN BORDER
AND DRAG A WEAK BOUNDARY THROUGH ERN UT/WRN CO TUE AFTN/ERLY TUE
EVNG. MOST OF THE MOISTURE APPEARS TO REMAIN ABOVE 600 MB...THOUGH
THERE IS ENOUGH UVV TO INTRODUCE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF MEASURABLE PCPN
TUE AFTN AND TUE NGT. MODELS ALL REMAIN IN FAIR AGREEMENT AND A DRY
WED AS WELL. IN GENERAL...MODEL GUIDANCE NUMBER APPREARED REASONABLE
...THOUGH WILL GO A FEW DEGREES COOLER TONIGHT UNDER CLEAR SKIES
AND DROPPING DEW POINTS.  CUOCO/25

EXTENDED...THURSDAY THRU SUNDAY...MODELS IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT
EARLY IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD THEN BEGIN TO DIVERGE. STRONG CLOSED
UPPER LOW DRIFTS EAST JUST NORTH OF MONTANA WEDNESDAY THEN OPENS INTO
POSITIVE TILT TROUGH. THIS BRINGS CHANCE OF TSRA ON THURSDAY
DECREASING ON FRIDAY. RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE THEN BUILDS OVR THE
ROCKIES BY SATURDAY. LITTLE CHANGE IN CURRENT EXTENDED...ADDED
SUNDAY AS DRY DAY. DJC/21

.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, Montrose

When: May 12, 4:00 PM MST to May 27, 7:00 PM MST
Where: Montrose County, 7 mi NE of Nucla
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 38.402, -108.269 (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, 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: 5300015.