Wildfire in Oregon, August 26 to 28, 2002

Name: Wildfire in Oregon, August 26 to 28, 2002
Start: 2002-08-26T04:00
End: 2002-08-28T12:00
Location: Oregon

August 26 to 28, 2002 · NWS MFR · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

A Red Flag Warning was issued at the above times for fire weather zones 618/619/620 for forecast poor relative humidity recoveries. Major wildfires were ongoing in the warning area.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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 MFR wrote it up.

A Red Flag Warning was issued at the above times for fire weather zones 618/619/620 for forecast poor relative humidity recoveries. Major wildfires were ongoing in the warning area. The warning was not really countywide for Coos (extreme southern portion only) or Jackson (western portion only) counties...but it did include all of Curry county and all but the southern portion of Josephine county. This warning did not verify at any of the RAWS stations, but it did come close at the Red Mound RAWS on both nights. Field conditions were still at historically dry levels.

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 Medford, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 26, 2:35 AM PST, 1 hour 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 26, 2:35 AM PST, 1 hour 25 minutes before

SOUTHWEST OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
230 AM PDT MON AUG 26 2002

LOW CLOUDS AND PATCHY FOG EXTEND FROM THE COAST INTO THE UMPQUA BASIN
BUT THEY WILL DISSIPATE BY THE AFTERNOON. HIGH PRESSURE WILL DEVELOP
OFFSHORE TODAY AND A THERMAL TROUGH OVER NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WILL
EXTEND TO THE SOUTHERN OREGON COAST. MORE PRONOUNCED WARMING ON
TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY WITH OFFSHORE WINDS AS THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE
AND SURFACE THERMAL TROUGH STRENGTHEN. OFFSHORE WINDS WILL RESULT IN
DRIER THAN NORMAL RELATIVE HUMIDITIES OVER THE COASTAL RANGE MONDAY
NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. WE WILL TRANSITION TO A ZONAL FLOW ALOFT
WEDNESDAY NIGHT AS AN UPPER TROUGH APPROACHES VANCOUVER ISLAND. WITH
ONSHORE WINDS AND THE TROUGH MOVING ACROSS THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST THE
RESULT WILL BE COOLER TEMPERATURES FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY WITH
PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES INLAND AND A RETURN OF PERSISTENT COASTAL LOW
CLOUDS. PATTERN BECOMES MORE COMPLEX FOR THE WEEKEND...MRF INDICATES
WEAK RIDGING ACROSS OUR REGION BETWEEN THE MID-WEEK LOW WHICH CLOSES
OFF OVER NORTH-CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AND ANOTHER WEAK TROUGH OVER
BRITISH COLUMBIA. THIS LEADS TO SOME UNCERTAINTY WITH THE TEMPERATURE
FORECAST BUT THEY SHOULD BE NEAR NORMAL.  DW

.MFR...NONE.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Coos

When: August 26, 4:00 AM PST to August 28, 12:00 PM PST
Where: Coos County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 43.185, -124.093 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

See below.

Wildfire, Curry

When: August 26, 4:00 AM PST to August 28, 12:00 PM PST
Where: Curry County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.467, -124.215 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

See below.

Wildfire, Josephine

When: August 26, 4:00 AM PST to August 28, 12:00 PM PST
Where: Josephine County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.366, -123.556 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

See below.

Wildfire, Jackson

When: August 26, 4:00 AM PST to August 28, 12:00 PM PST
Where: Jackson County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.432, -122.728 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

See below.

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 Oregon in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Oregon, August 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: 5309728, 5309729, 5309730, 5309731.