Wildfire in Utah, July 6 to 8, 2002

Name: Wildfire in Utah, July 6 to 8, 2002
Start: 2002-07-06T12:00
End: 2002-07-08T18:00
Location: Utah

July 6 to 8, 2002 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

This wildfire was named the Carpenter Fire. Several campgrounds were evacuated.

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: 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 was named the Carpenter Fire. Several campgrounds were evacuated. The fire consumed 1,250 acres.

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 6, 1:24 AM MST, 10 hours 36 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 6, 1:24 AM MST, 10 hours 36 minutes before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
224 AM MDT SAT JUL 6 2002

SKIES CLEARING WEST OF CONT DVD THIS MORNING OVER CO...WITH NEARLY
CLEAR SKIES OVER ERN UT. ONLY SW CO CONTINUES TO HAVE MID AND UPPER
LVL CLOUDINESS BEING CLOSER THE CLOSED LOW CENTERED OVER NE NM. THIS
LOW MOVING SLOWLY NE TAKING CLOUDS AND MOISTURE WITH IT...BUT ENUF
RAIN HAS FALLEN LAST 3 DAYS THAT RESIDUAL LOW LVL MOISTURE WILL ALLOW
ANOTHER ROUND OF CONVECTION TODAY...THOUGH LESS AREAL COVERAGE
EXPECTED TDA COMPARED TO FRI. SHWRS AND TSTMS WILL MORE PLENTIFUL IN
THE MTNS AGAIN AND CONCENTRATED ALONG THE CONT DVD AND OVER SERN
QUARTER OF THE CWA. CURRENT ZONES APPEAR INLINE WITH THIS TREND.

DRYING OVER GREAT BASIN WILL CONTINUE PUSHING FROM UT INTO CO SUN
FOR DRIER CONDITIONS AND WARMER THAN NORMAL HIGH TEMPS THRU EARLY
NEXT WEEK. WITH MID-RANGE MODELS CONTINUING TO BUILD STRONG HIGH
PRESSURE OVER WRN U.S...THE REST OF NEXT WEEK SHOULD BE HOT AND
DRY...WITH THE ONLY RAIN CHANCES COMING FROM MINOR TROFS AND
MOISTURE ROTATION AROUND THE HIGH CENTER. CURRENT EXTENDED WORDING
COVERS THIS WELL.   CJC

.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, San Juan

When: July 6, 12:00 PM MST to July 8, 6:00 PM MST
Where: San Juan County, 11 mi NE of La Sal
Reported by: POST OFFICE
Coordinates: 37.626, -109.805 (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: 5317878.