Wildfire, Curry
- When
- August 30, 6:00 PM PST to August 31, 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 in Oregon, August 30 to 31, 2002
Red Flag conditions were observed for low relative humidity recoveries coupled with gusty northeast winds at both the Red Mound RAWS (fire weather zone 618) and the Quail Prairie RAWS (fire weather zone 619). However, no warning was issued this night and thus this was a missed event.
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 MFR wrote it up.
Red Flag conditions were observed for low relative humidity recoveries coupled with gusty northeast winds at both the Red Mound RAWS (fire weather zone 618) and the Quail Prairie RAWS (fire weather zone 619). However, no warning was issued this night and thus this was a missed event.
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 30, 3:00 PM PST, 3 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 30, 3:00 PM PST, 3 hours before
SOUTHWEST OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR 400 PM PDT FRI AUG 30 2002 REMOVED THE CHANCE OF EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FROM THE SOUTH-CENTRAL OREGON CASCADES (CRATER LAKE) AND THE KLAMATH BASIN (KLAMATH FALLS). CURRENT VISIBLE IMAGERY, SFC OBSERVATIONS AND KMAX WSR-88D DATA SUGGEST MARINE AIR HAS SPILLED OVER THE CASCADE CREST AND IS NOW DOWNSLOPING INTO THE KLAMATH BASIN IN THE LEE OF THE CASCADES. THIS HAS THERMALLY STABILIZED THE ATMOSPHERE IN THESE ZONES...CONSISTENT WITH THE RUC WHICH INCREASES SHOWALTER INDICES OVER KLAMATH COUNTY THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS, WHILE DECREASING TO THEM TO -6C OVER SE LAKE COUNTY. CONTINUED WEAK SYNOPTIC-SCALE LIFT (700-300MB Q-VECTOR CONVERGENCE) WILL AID MAINTAINENCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER LAKE, MODOC AND E SISKIYOU COUNTIES THIS EVENING. WOLF ----------------------------------------------- 230 PM DISCUSSION... MOSTLY CLEAR WEST OF THE CASCADES THIS AFTERNOON...PARTLY CLOUDY FROM THE CASCADES EAST WITH SEVERAL THUNDERSTORMS OVER LAKE COUNTY. EXPECT THE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TO DISSIPATE THIS EVENING. AN UPPER RIDGE WILL BUILD IN FROM THE WEST THROUGH SATURDAY... BRINGING STEADILY INCREASING 500 MB HEIGHTS OVER THE AREA. THE LOW LEVEL THERMAL TROUGH WILL DEVELOP NEAR THE COAST AS TEMPERATURES WARM. THE THERMAL TROUGH WILL WANDER OFFSHORE IN THE NIGHTTIME HOURS TONIGHT AND SATURDAY NIGHT...BUT IT WILL NOT BE A STRONG OFFSHORE EVENT. EXPECT A WARMING TREND WITH MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY...EXCEPT POSSIBLY FOR SOME LOW CLOUDS ALONG THE COAST NORTH OF CAPE BLANCO. THE RIDGE WILL FLATTEN TO ZONAL FLOW SUNDAY AND A UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL DEEPEN OFFSHORE THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT...BRINGING INCREASING SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW OVER THE AREA. THE LOW LEVEL THERMAL TROUGH WILL WEAKEN AS THIS OCCURS. THE UPPER TROUGH WILL DEVELOP INTO A FAIRLY STRONG AND COOL SYSTEM BY THE TIME IT MOVES ONSHORE TUESDAY. THIS WILL PUSH A LOW LEVEL COLD FRONT ONSHORE LATE MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY...WITH THE TUESDAY HIGHS INLAND ABOUT 10 DEGREES COOLER THAN THE MONDAY HIGHS. WILL PUT IN A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION FOR THE COAST AND UMPQUA BASIN FOR LATE MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY. POST FRONTAL SHOWERS WILL BE POSSIBLE INTO WEDNESDAY AS THE UPPER TROUGH WILL STILL BE LINGERING ALONG THE COAST. THE EXTENDED RANGE MODELS DIFFER ON THE WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY TIME RANGE WITH THE MRF PROGRESSING THE TROUGH EASTWARD AND BRINGING IN A SHORT WAVE RIDGE...WHILE THE ECMWF/UKMO SOLUTIONS ARE LESS PROGRESSIVE. WEDNESDAY LOOKS TO BE THE COOLEST DAY AND WILL GO WITH A WARMING TREND THEREAFTER...BUT NOT AS MUCH AS THE MRF WOULD INDICATE. STOCKTON .MFR...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY....FLORENCE OR TO POINT ST. GEORGE CA.
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
- Flash Flooding in Puerto Rico, August 30, 2002
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Texas, August 30, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Alabama, August 30, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, August 30, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Idaho, August 30, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in North Dakota, August 30, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Minnesota, August 30, 2002
- Flash Flooding in North Carolina, August 30, 2002
- Hail in Oklahoma, August 30, 2002
- Hail in Montana, August 30, 2002
- Heavy Rain in South Carolina, August 30, 2002
- Heavy Rain in South Carolina, August 30, 2002
More
Every storm in Oregon in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5309732.