Name: Wildfire in Oregon, September 13 to 15, 2002
Start: 2002-09-13T15:00
End: 2002-09-15T06:17
Location: Oregon

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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 MFR wrote it up.

A Red Flag Warning was issued for Fire Weather zones 624/625 effective at the above times for expected gusty winds combined with low relative humidities. South winds 15-25 were reported with minimum relative humidities of 5-15% and ridgetop recoveries in the 20-30% range. So it appears this warning verified.

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 Sep 13, 1:30 PM PST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 13, 1:30 PM PST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

SOUTHWEST OREGON/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
230 PM PDT FRI SEP 13 2002

LATEST MODELS SHOWING TIMING OF SYSTEM SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY
PUSHING BACK A BIT. HAVE ADJUSTED TIMING AND COVERAGE OF PECIP TO GO
WITH A BLEND OF THE AVN AND ETA...LEANING MORE HEAVILY TOWARDS THE
AVN AS IT HAS BEEN SHOWING THE GREATEST CONSISTENCY. REALITY OF
SYSTEMS OVER THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS HAS SHOWN THAT AS SYSTEMS
APPROACH...THEY OPEN AND WEAKEN MORE THAN THE MODELS HAS BEEN SHOWING
SEVERAL DAYS AHEAD. WILL CUT BACK POPS FROM PREVIOUS PACKAGE IN
RESPONSE TO THIS. IN THE EXTENDED...MODELS STILL CONSISTENT WITH COOL
TREND FOR NEXT WEEK. SHOWING A LITTLE VARIATION WITH TIMING OF
STSTEMS IN SEMI ZONAL NORTHWEST FLOW AS IS EXPECTED IN THIS TYPE OF
SCENARIO...AND HAVE KEPT CHANCE IN...DIMINISHING FROM WEST TO
EAST...THROUGH THURSDAY AS SUCCESION OF SWS PASS IN THIS PATTERN.
POSSIBLY STRONG THERMAL TROUGH PATTERN SETS UPP INTO NEXT WEEKEND
WITH A POSSIBLE OOFSHORE FLOW HEAT-UP IN STORE INTO THE FOLLOWING
WEEK. THIS IS BEYOND THE SCOPE OF CUURENT FORECAST HOWEVER. SVEN

.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

2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Klamath

When: September 13, 3:00 PM PST to September 15, 6:17 AM PST
Where: Klamath County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.686, -121.650 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

See below.

Wildfire, Lake

When: September 13, 3:00 PM PST to September 15, 6:17 AM PST
Where: Lake County, Countywide
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 42.793, -120.387 (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

More

Every storm in Oregon in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Oregon, September 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: 5320503, 5320504.