New Mexico, 2002

Wildfire in New Mexico, May 21 to 22, 2002

May 21 to 22, 2002 · NWS ABQ · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Dry lightning started and then gusty winds fanned a series of wildfires that eventually consumed over 100,000 acres. The 12,800 acre Berrego fire in Rio Arriba County forced the evacuation of the Truchas and Cordova communities before the fire front turned northeast away from the villages into the Pecos Wilderness.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
2

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 ABQ wrote it up.

Dry lightning started and then gusty winds fanned a series of wildfires that eventually consumed over 100,000 acres. The 12,800 acre Berrego fire in Rio Arriba County forced the evacuation of the Truchas and Cordova communities before the fire front turned northeast away from the villages into the Pecos Wilderness. The Ponil complex of two fires merged and burned over 90,000 acres northwest of Cimarron in Colfax County. Only a few small cabins and barns were lost, but the fires raised concern for flash flooding in the downstream communities.

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 Albuquerque, NM wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 21, 9:35 AM MST, 4 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 21, 9:35 AM MST, 4 hours 25 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM
1035 AM MDT TUE MAY 21 2002

EXPANDED WIND ADVISORY BASED ON KABX VWP AND ON 12Z ETA FCST OF H7
WINDS EASTCENTRAL. NORTHWEST CWA HAS DRIED OUT COMPARED TO YESTERDAY
AND EXPECT FURTHER LOW LEVEL DRYING TODAY AND TONIGHT. SO IF THERE
IS CONVECTION IN THE NW TODAY...WHICH I DOUBT...NO RAIN WILL REACH
THE GROUND. REMOVED MNTN OF SHRA FROM NW THIS AFTN.

ADDED MENTION OF THUNDER TO FAR EASTERN ZONES. JUST TOO RISKY NOT TO
HAVE SOME MENTION GIVEN THE DEWPOINTS AND SINCE I EXPECT WINDS TO
STAY OUT OF SOUTH OR SOUTHEAST. THE MISSING INGREDIENT IN THE EAST
IS A TRIGGER...OR MESOSCALE LIFTING MECHANISM. I CANT FIND ANYTHING
EXCEPT FOR WEAK UPSLOPE. SO I ONLY WENT WITH 10 POPS. JWS

.ABQ...WIND ADVY THIS AFTERNOON NMZ001>-013-021-

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Colfax

When
May 21, 2:00 PM MST to May 22, 7:00 PM MST
Where
Colfax County, Ute Park
Reported by
GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates
36.606, -104.647 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wildfire, Rio Arriba

When
May 21, 2:00 PM MST to May 22, 7:00 PM MST
Where
Rio Arriba County, Truchas
Reported by
GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates
36.510, -106.693 (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 New Mexico in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, 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: 5288333, 5288334.