Wildfire in Utah, July 1 to 8, 2002

Name: Wildfire in Utah, July 1 to 8, 2002
Start: 2002-07-01T12:00
End: 2002-07-08T18:00
Location: Utah

July 1 to 8, 2002 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

This human caused fire became known as the Mustang Fire. Three outbuildings and one other structure were destroyed, and highway 191 was temporarily closed.

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $50,000
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 human caused fire became known as the Mustang Fire. Three outbuildings and one other structure were destroyed, and highway 191 was temporarily closed. The Flaming Gorge Dam and Power Plant were threatened by the fire. The fire consumed 20,038 acres. The cost of fighting the fire was 2.5 million 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 Jul 1, 1:46 AM MST, 10 hours 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 1, 1:46 AM MST, 10 hours 14 minutes before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
246 AM MDT MON JUL 1 2002

HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO BRING HOT AND DRY CONDITIONS TO
WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH TODAY AND TUESDAY.

SUBSIDENCE INVERSION CAPPED THE AIRMASS NEAR 480MB PER LAST EVENING
PER GJT SOUNDING AND EXPECT MORE OF THE SAME TODAY WITH HIGH PRESSURE
CONTINUING TO DOMINATE. ATMOSPHERE TOO WARM AND DRY FOR THUNDERSTORMS
AGAIN TODAY. HOWEVER...STEEP LAPSE RATES...VERY DRY AIR...AND LIGHT
WINDS BELOW 500MB WILL AGAIN FAVOR LARGE PLUME DEVELOPMENT ON FIRES.
WILL LIKELY TIE OR BREAK A FEW RECORD HIGHS AGAIN TODAY.

MOISTURE WILL BEGIN TO INCREASE ACROSS THE AREA TUESDAY...ESPECIALLY
ALONG THE DIVIDE AND ACROSS SOUTHWEST COLORADO. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR
THE POSSIBILITY OF A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THESE AREAS TUESDAY
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. MOISTURE WILL BE QUITE ELEVATED THOUGH AND
EXPECT HIGH BASED STORMS WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND LITTLE RAINFALL
REACHING THE SURFACE. MOISTURE INCREASES WEDNESDAY AND ADVANCES
FARTHER NORTH AND WEST FOR EXPANDED COVERAGE OF THUNDERSTORM CHANCES.
MOISTENING OF THE AIRMASS WILL BRING DAYTIME HIGHS CLOSER TO NORMAL
ON WEDNESDAY. TL

.EXTENDED (THU-SUN).. GULF OF ALASKA LOW PROGGED TO MOVE INTO CANADA
WITH A CA BAJA LOW COUPLING WITH HIGH IN SE US BRINGING A MORE SOUTH
FLOW AND AN INCREASE IN MOISTURE TO THE CWFA. AS NEXT WEST COAST
TROUGH TIGHTENS UP BY THE WEEKEND WILL SEE A DRYER SW FLOW ON SUNDAY.
CURRENT FORECAST HAS GOOD HANDLE ON THIS SO WILL ADD SUNDAY WITH
SLIGHT CHANCE OF PCPN. TEMPS TO REMAIN AT OR ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH THE
PERIOD. DJC/21

WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH EMERGENCY MANAGERS SHOULD MAINTAIN
A NORMAL LEVEL OF WEATHER AWARENESS TODAY.

A HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED ON AN EVENT DRIVEN BASIS
FOR COUNTIES IN WESTERN COLORADO AND EXTREME EASTERN UTAH. ON SUNDAY
JULY 21, 2002, THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL OFFICIALLY REPLACE
THE MESSAGE TO EMERGENCY MANAGERS INCLUDED IN THE EARLY MORNING AREA
FORECAST DISCUSSION.  THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED
USING THE SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT PRODUCT IDENTIFIER.

.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, Daggett

When: July 1, 12:00 PM MST to July 8, 6:00 PM MST
Where: Daggett County, 1 mi N of Dutch John
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
Coordinates: 40.887, -109.508 (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, July 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: 5317872.