Wildfire in Utah, August 12 to 16, 2002

Name: Wildfire in Utah, August 12 to 16, 2002
Start: 2002-08-12T16:00
End: 2002-08-16T16:00
Location: Utah

August 12 to 16, 2002 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

This wildfire became known as the Brownie fire and consumed 153 acres of forest in the Ashley National Forest. The cost of fighting the fire was 419 thousand dollars.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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.

This wildfire became known as the Brownie fire and consumed 153 acres of forest in the Ashley National Forest. The cost of fighting the fire was 419 thousand dollars.

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 Aug 12, 12:33 PM MST, 3 hours 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 12, 12:33 PM MST, 3 hours 27 minutes before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
133 PM MDT MON AUG 12 2002

...A STRONG COLD FRONT WITH CAUSE FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS THROUGH THIS
EVENING OVER NORTHWEST COLORADO AND NORTHEAST UTAH...

A VIGOROUS SHORT WAVE TROUGH WILL MOVE THROUGH WY AND EXTREME NWRN CO
THIS EVENING. WEST WINDS AHEAD OF THE FRONT WILL INCREASE TO 20-30
MPH LATE THIS AFTERNOON...THEN SHIFT ABRUPTLY TO THE NORTHWEST AS
THE FRONT PASSES THIS EVENING. WITH VERY DRY CONDITIONS AND NO
LONG-TERM BENEFITS FROM THE RAIN OF LAST WEEK...RED FLAG WARNING
ISSUED THROUGH MIDNIGHT TONIGHT.

FRONT AND TROF HAVE MINIMAL MOISTURE SO ONLY ISOLD WEAK TSTMS ARE
EXPECTED. ANY FORMING SHOULD BE DRY. AFTER FRONT PASSES MODELS
SHOW RIDGE BUILDING QUICKLY BACK OVER THE AREA...WITH DRY AND WARM
CONDITIONS CONTINUING THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK.   CJC

EXTENDED...FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY SOME MODEL DISAGREEMENT REGARDING
AMPLITUDE BETWEEN THE EC AND MRF TOWARD THE LATER HALF OF THE
EXTENDED PERIOD.  HOWEVER SENSIBLE WEATHER OVER OUR CWA SHOULDNT BE
AFFECTED MUCH. A WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL KEEP THE AIRMASS MOSTLY DRY
FRIDAY AS MAIN BAROCLINIC ZONE STAYS WELL TO NORTH OVER THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST AND INTO THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. BY SATURDAY THE FLOW ALOFT
SHOULD TURN TO THE SOUTHWEST AS HIGH PRESSURE BEGINS TO REBUILD OVER
THE DESERT SOUTHWEST. THIS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PULL ENOUGH MOISTURE
NORTHWARD SUNDAY AND MONDAY AND GENERATE ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS
MAINLY OVER THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS. MRF TEMPERATURE GUIDANCE BIASED
TOWARD CLIMATOLOGY AFTER THURSDAY WITH WHAT APPEARS TO BE WAY TO COOL
TEMPS...WILL ADJUST TO FIT MORE CLOSELY WITH PERSISTENCE AND BUILDING
RIDGE WITH WAA. MC

.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, Uintah

When: August 12, 4:00 PM MST to August 16, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Uintah County, 22 mi NW of Vernal
Reported by: OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
Coordinates: 40.125, -109.518 (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

Every storm in Utah in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5320729.