Wildfire, San Juan
- When
- July 11, 12:00 PM MST to July 16, 6:00 PM MST
- Where
- San Juan County, 5 mi S of Eastland
- Reported by
- OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
- Coordinates
- 37.626, -109.805 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Utah, July 11 to 16, 2002
This wildfire became known as the Horse Fire. This fire consumed 1,250 acres.
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 GJT wrote it up.
This wildfire became known as the Horse Fire. This fire consumed 1,250 acres. The cost of fighting the fire was 186,000 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 11, 1:03 AM MST, 10 hours 57 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 11, 1:03 AM MST, 10 hours 57 minutes before
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 203 AM MDT THU JUL 11 2002 PERSISTENCE FORECAST AGAIN LOOKS LIKE A SAFE PLAY THIS MORNING AS LITTLE HAS CHANGED OVER THE LAST 24 HOURS. STRONG UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL CONTINUE TO DOMINATE THE WEATHER WITH EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO STILL ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE RIDGE AXIS. DAILY RECYCLING OF MOISTURE OVER THE HIGH COUNTRY AND LOWER ELEVATIONS OF SOUTHWEST COLORADO WL SLOWLY BE ON THE DIMINISH AS DRIER AIR SWEEPS INTO THE REGION FROM WYOMING. DUE TO THE DURATION OF OUR CURRENT HEAT WAVE...HAVE DECIDED TO ISSUE AN SPS THIS MORNING TO INCLUDE SOME SAFETY TIPS/RULES TO ABIDE BY DURING THIS HOT WEATHER. LITTLE CHANGE THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. JDC EXTENDED (SUN-WED)...LITTLE CHANGE IN OVERALL PATTERN THROUGH THIS PERIOD WITH HOT CONDITIONS PERSISTING. HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE AXIS REMAINS WEST OF THE CWFA SUNDAY...WITH DEEP MOISTURE SUPPRESSED TO OUR SOUTH AND WEST. EACH DAY AFTER...THE UPPER HIGH APPEARS TO WEAKEN AND SHIFT EAST...ALLOWING SUB-TROPICAL MOISTURE TO INCREASE ACROSS THE FOUR CORNERS REGION. MON-WED...WILL HAVE MENTION OF AFTN/EVE THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY OVER THE MOUNTAINS...WITH JUST P/C OVER THE VALLEYS. ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE. DJN.83 WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH EMERGENCY MANAGERS SHOULD MAINTAIN A NORMAL LEVEL OF WEATHER AWARENESS TODAY. BEGINNING FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2002, 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.
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
- Heat in Texas, July 11, 2002
- Lightning Strike in New Jersey, July 11, 2002
- Flood and Damaging Winds in Georgia, July 11, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, July 11 to 12, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, July 11, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Alabama, July 11, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Alabama, July 11, 2002
- Tornado in Florida, July 11, 2002
- Flash Flood and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, July 11, 2002
- Lightning Strikes in Oregon, July 11 to 12, 2002
- Damaging Winds in South Carolina, July 11, 2002
- Flooding in Iowa, July 11, 2002
More
Every storm in Utah in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5317877.