Two lightning caused fires near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon were allowed to burn to meet management ecological and protection objectives. The Game Reserve fire started on May 29 about nine miles southeast of the Grand Canyon Village in the Grand Canyon National Park.
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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.
The episode as NWS FGZ wrote it up.
Two lightning caused fires near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon were allowed to burn to meet management ecological and protection objectives. The Game Reserve fire started on May 29 about nine miles southeast of the Grand Canyon Village in the Grand Canyon National Park. The Ruby started on May 25 about six miles southeast of Tusayan on the Kaibab National Forest. The fires merged and became the Ruby Complex. The Complex burned more than 4,600 acres.
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 Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 25, 9:25 AM MST, 4 hours 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 925 AM MST MON MAY 25 2009 .SYNOPSIS...A DRYING TREND IS EXPECTED THIS WEEK...HOWEVER...A CHANCE OF SHOWERS WILL REMAIN EACH DAY. AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES WILL RETURN TO NEAR SEASONABLE LEVELS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. && .DISCUSSION...A MID LAYER CLOUD FIELD IS MOVING FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST OVER THE WESTERN MOGOLLON RIM THIS MORNING. THIS INDICATES A LAYER OF MOISTURE NOT REPRESENTED ON THE 12Z KFGZ SOUNDING. THIS MORNINGS SOUNDING HAS 0.09 INCH LOWER PW THAN YESTERDAY MORNING AND SURFACE DEW POINTS ARE AS MUCH AS 6 DEGREES LOWER THAN YESTERDAY AT THIS TIME. THE ATMOSPHERE IS UNSTABLE (LI OF -5.3) AND MOSTLY SUNNY CONDITIONS THIS MORNING WILL ALLOW FOR RAPID SURFACE HEATING TO FURTHER DESTABILIZE CONDITIONS. THESE CONDITIONS WILL RESULT IN VERY SIMILAR COVERAGE AND INTENSITY OF STORMS AS WE SAW YESTERDAY...WITH ONLY SLIGHTLY FEWER STORMS. NO UPDATES TO SHORT TERM FORECAST NEEDED. && .PREV DISCUSSION /230 AM MST/...A LOW-AMPLITUDE TROUGH AND WESTERLY FLOW WILL REMAIN OVER THE SOUTHWEST TODAY AND TUESDAY BRINGING A DRYING AND WARMING TREND TO NRN AZ. HOWEVER...ENOUGH MOISTURE WILL REMAIN IN PLACE FOR ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP EACH DAY. ACTIVITY SHOULD DEVELOP FIRST OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN AND THEN MOVE NORTHEASTWARD OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE NORTHLAND LATER IN THE DAY. FOR WEDNESDAY AND INTO THE WEEKEND...A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER THE GREAT BASIN BUT WILL BE TOO FAR NORTH TO EFFECTIVELY SHUT DOWN THE DAILY CONVECTION OVER NORTHERN ARIZONA. ENOUGH MOISTURE IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN OVER THE AREA FOR ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY. && .AVIATION...FOR THE 18Z PACKAGE...THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS...ENOUGH MOISTURE WILL REMAIN FOR SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS EAST OF A LINE EXTENDING FROM KKNB TO KPAN...WITH ISOLATED STORMS ELSEWHERE. AWAY FROM STORMS VFR CONDITIONS AND LIGHT WINDS ARE EXPECTED. OVERNIGHT INTO EARLY TUESDAY...PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND VFR CONDITIONS ARE ANTICIPATED. DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDMENTS. && .FIRE WEATHER...SOME DRYING OF THE AIR MASS OVER NORTHERN ARIZONA WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TUESDAY. ENOUGH MID LEVEL MOISTURE REMAINS TO CAUSE A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. LIGHT WINDS WILL CONTINUE. WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...THE AIR MASS ACROSS NORTHERN ARIZONA IS EXPECTED TO CONTAIN MID LEVEL MOISTURE...AND PROVIDE A CHANCE FOR AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE PERIOD. DAILY MINIMUM RH VALUES SHOULD RANGE FROM 15-25 PERCENT WITH LIGHT WINDS CONTINUING. && .FGZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && PUBLIC.....................DB/MAS AVIATION/FIRE WEATHER......DM VISIT WEATHER.GOV/FLAGSTAFF FOR NORTHERN ARIZONA WEATHER INFORMATION.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Ruby was started by lightning on May 25 about six miles southeast of Tusayan on the Kaibab National Forest. The fires merged and became the Ruby Complex.
The Game Reserve fire was started by on May 29 about nine miles southeast of the Grand Canyon Village in the Grand Canyon National Park.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, May 2009
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: 175515, 175516.