Utah, 2002

Wildfire in Utah, August 1, 2002

August 1, 2002 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The County Line fire began in mid July and was caused by lightning. The fire consumed 3,565 acres of mixed brush on the Roan Cliffs.

Where it happened

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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.

The County Line fire began in mid July and was caused by lightning. The fire consumed 3,565 acres of mixed brush on the Roan Cliffs. The fire was contained on the 1st of August.

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 Jul 31, 12:44 PM MST, 11 hours 16 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 12:44 PM MST, 11 hours 16 minutes before
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
144 PM MDT WED JUL 31 2002

CUMULUS DEVELOPMENT MORE NUMEROUS ACROSS MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON
THAN YESTERDAY WITH MARGINAL INSTABILITY ACROSS THE AREA. LOW LEVELS
ARE QUITE DRY THOUGH PER 12Z RAOB AND CURRENT DEW POINTS. MAY SEE
SOME ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE HIGH TERRAIN EARLY THIS
EVENING. POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT RAIN IS LOW BUT POTENTIAL FOR
GUSTY WINDS EXISTS WITH DRY SUB CLOUD LAYER.

MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT SHIFTING THE UPPER HIGH CENTER EAST OF
THE FORECAST AREA TONIGHT AND THURSDAY. THIS ALLOWS A SOUTHERLY FLOW
TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA WHICH OPENS THE DOOR FOR MONSOON MOISTURE
TO ADVECT NORTH. MOISTURE IS GRADUALLY ADVANCING NORTH ACROSS AZ PER
GOES PW DATA. CYCLONIC CIRCULATION OVER BAJA CALIFORNIA WILL CONTINUE
TO PULL MOISTURE INTO THE SOUTHWEST AS WELL. ALL THIS SUPPORTS THE
IDEA OF INCREASING MOISTURE ACROSS EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO
THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. A SERIES OF WAVES ARE PROGGED TO BREAK OFF
FROM THE BAJA CIRCULATION. TIMING OF THESE WAVES IS UNCERTAIN AT
THIS POINT AND WILL CONTINUE WITH A GENERAL UPWARD TREND IN POPS
THROUGH FRIDAY. EXPECT DIURNALLY DRIVEN CONVECTION THURSDAY AFTERNOON
AND EVENING...WITH BETTER CHANCES OF NOCTURNAL CONVECTION ON FRIDAY
NIGHT AS MOIST LAYER DEEPENS. TAL

(SAT-WED):  MOISTURE WILL BE ON THE WANE THROUGH THE WEEKEND FOR
DRYING TREND FROM NORTH TO SOUTH THROUGH MONDAY.  EACH DAY WILL SEE A
LITTLE LESS ACTIVITY THAN THE PREVIOUS ONE...WITH THE TREND REVERSING
BY TUE. GOOD AGREEMENT IN LATEST RUNS OF MID-RANGE MODELS IN
DEVELOPING A TROUGH ALONG THE WEST COAST EARLY NEXT WEEK FOR
SOUTHWEST FLOW OVER EAST UT/WEST CO. THE AVN/MRF HAS COME IN LINE
WITH OTHER MODELS IN CONTRAST TO ITS PREVIOUS SOLUTION. THE
SOUTHWEST FLOW IS MORE FAVORABLE FOR INCREASING MOISTURE OVER THE
AREA AND LOOKS LIKE A DECENT TAP COULD BE ESTABLISHED BY WED. WILL
MAKE A FEW ADJUSTMENTS TO THE FORECAST TO REFLECT THESE IDEAS.
HEFFERNAN

.GJT...NONE.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Grand

When
August 1, 12:00 AM MST to 6:00 PM MST
Where
Grand County, 30 mi N of Crescent Jct
Reported by
OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
Coordinates
38.982, -109.570 (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 Utah in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, 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: 5317972.