Wildfire, Montezuma
- When
- May 18, 5:00 PM MST to May 23, 5:00 PM MST
- Where
- Montezuma County, 13 mi S of Mancos
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 37.338, -108.597 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Colorado, May 18 to 23, 2002
Lightning ignited a fire on Table Mesa which spread across 340 acres of pinion, juniper and ponderosa pine forest before it was contained. The cost of suppressing the fire was 516,000 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
- Other
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 Table Mesa which spread across 340 acres of pinion, juniper and ponderosa pine forest before it was contained. The cost of suppressing the fire was 516,000 dollars. The fire was named the Cow Camp 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 18, 1:45 PM MST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 18, 1:45 PM MST, 3 hours 15 minutes before
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 245 PM MDT SAT MAY 18 2002 ISOLATED HIGH BASED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE OCCURRED OVER THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS TODAY. THE POTENTIAL OF THUNDER EXISTS FOR THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL COLORADO MOUNTAINS AS MODEL DATA INDICATES SOME CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL INTO EARLY EVENING.. AND SATELLITE VISUAL SHOW SOME DECENT BUILDUPS. THESE CELLS SHOULD DIE AFTER SUNSET AND GIVE WAY TO MOSTLY CLEAR CONDITIONS (EXCEPT FOR SOME HIGH CLOUDS NEAR THE WYOMING BORDER.) SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE SOUTHERN PLAINS AND EMBEDDED IMPULSES OVER NORTHWESTERN MEXICO LEAD TO DEEP SOUTHERLY FLOW BY LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON. THIS WILL INCREASE MID AND HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE FROM THE SOUTH. STEEP LOW LEVEL LAPSE RATES WILL CONTINUE AS THE AIR MASS REMAINS VERY WARM. AFTERNOON CONVECTION WILL DEVELOP ONCE AGAIN.. BUT WILL RESULT IN A BETTER THREAT OF THUNDER AND SHOWERS SUNDAY EVENING. WEST COAST TROUGH BECOMES ELONGATED AND NEGATIVE TILTED BY MONDAY AFTERNOON. THIS SYSTEM WILL STILL BE TOO FAR TO OUR WEST TO HAVE MUCH IMPACT ON SENSIBLE WEATHER ACROSS EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. SOUTH TO NORTH SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT DOES INCREASE AND THIS WILL RESULT IN BREEZY CONDITIONS BY AFTERNOON. ALSO.. THE PLUME OF MID/HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE FROM THE SOUTH WILL GET SHUNTED MAINLY EAST OF THE FORECAST AREA. BUT SOME RESIDUAL LOW LEVEL MOISTURE FROM SUNDAY NIGHTS RAINFALL WILL HELP KEEP THE AIR MASS CONDITIONALLY UNSTABLE. WILL KEEP SHOWERS AND THUNDER IN THE FORECAST.. BUT WITH LOWER PROBABILITIES. COLD FRONT REACHES THE AREA ON TUESDAY WITH STRONG MID LEVEL FLOW RESULTING IN WIDESPREAD WINDY CONDITIONS. WITH STRONG SPEED SHEAR IN ADVANCE OF THE TROUGH AXIS.. ISOLATED SEVERE CONVECTION MAY OCCUR. DRY ADVECTION OCCURS BEHIND THE TROUGH AXIS THAT WILL REDUCE THUNDER POTENTIAL. FRISBIE EXTENDED (WED-SAT)...EC/AVN EXTENDED DIVERGE WED-THU IN HANDLING THE PROGRESSION OF THE NEGATIVE TILTED TROUGH WORKING THROUGH OMEGA PATTERN. AVNX REFORMS CLOSED LOW ACROSS WY AND MOVES IT INTO NRN PLAINS WED WHILE EC SLOWER AND MORE NW WITH LOW CTR...PLACING IT OVER THE NRN ROCKIES BY THU. BOTH SIMILARLY SHOW AN UPSTREAM SYSTEM APPROACHING B.C./PAC NW BY FRI...AND WILL LEAN TOWARD THE AVNX. BEST CHANCE OF PCPN FOR THE NRN HALF ON WED. SOME SNOW NORTHERN MTNS ON WED WITH AVNX 700 MB TEMPS -2 TO -3 CELSIUS. WITH AVNX STILL SHOWING SOME LINGERING TROUGHINESS INTO THU...WILL KEEP SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS FOR THE NORTH ON THU...THEN DRY WEATHER FRI AND SAT WITH WARMING TEMPS. ANOTHER TROF SHOWN DEVELOPING OVER THE FAR WEST ON SAT TURNING FLOW TO THE SOUTHWEST ACROSS ERN UT/WRN CO. JAD .GJT...NONE.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Cold in Georgia, May 18 to 23, 2002
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Maryland, May 18, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Virginia, May 18, 2002
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds and Waterspouts in North Atlantic Coastal Waters, May 18, 2002
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in North Atlantic Coastal Waters, May 18, 2002
- Heavy Snow in New Hampshire, May 18, 2002
- Damaging Winds in South Carolina, May 18, 2002
- Winter Storm in New York, May 18, 2002
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in North Atlantic Coastal Waters, May 18, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Maryland, May 18, 2002
- Flooding in Kentucky, May 18 to 24, 2002
- Flood in Oklahoma, May 18, 2002
More
Every storm in Colorado in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5300011.