Arizona, 2011

Wildfire in Arizona, June 1 to 25, 2011

June 1 to 25, 2011 · NWS TWC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Continued dry conditions and fuels allowed for the Horseshoe 2 fire to burn through much of the month of June. Full containment of the fire was reached on June 25 after the 222,954 acres were consumed representing 80 percent of the Chriricahua Mountains.

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
1
Property damage
$1.0 million
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 TWC wrote it up.

Continued dry conditions and fuels allowed for the Horseshoe 2 fire to burn through much of the month of June. Full containment of the fire was reached on June 25 after the 222,954 acres were consumed representing 80 percent of the Chriricahua Mountains. The estimated containment cost was $51 million.

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 Tucson, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 31, 9:00 PM MST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 31, 9:00 PM MST, 3 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
900 PM MST TUE MAY 31 2011

.SYNOPSIS...A CONTINUED WARMING WEDNESDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS
EAST OF THE AREA. SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL MAINTAIN DRY CONDITIONS
AND SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL DAYTIME TEMPERATURES INTO SATURDAY.
PERHAPS ENOUGH MOISTURE FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE
WHITE MOUNTAINS SUNDAY. OTHERWISE... DRY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE
EARLY NEXT WEEK.

&&

.DISCUSSION...SCATTERED HIGH CLOUDINESS IS OVER SOUTHEAST ARIZONA
AND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT. OVERNIGHT LOWS ARE FORECASTED
IN THE MID 60'S FOR VALLEY LOCATIONS. MAY NEED TO INCREASE THESE
VALUES AS TEMPERATURES ARE STILL HOLDING IN THE MID 80'S. INCREASED
OVERNIGHT CLOUD COVER MAY HELP KEEP LEVELS HIGHER. LATEST MAV MOS
GIVES A LOW AT TUS OF 70 DEG F AND MET MOS SHOWS 69 DEG F. MAY ALSO
INCREASE OVERNIGHT CLOUD COVER AS PLUME OF THICKER HIGH CLOUDS
PERSISTS SOUTHWEST TO THE BAJA SPUR.

&&

.AVIATION...SCT-BKN CLOUDS AT OR ABOVE 25K FT AGL WILL PREVAIL THRU
WEDNESDAY MORNING OR 01/12Z. AFTERNOON SURFACE WIND WLY/SWLY 10-18
KTS WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 KTS. OTHERWISE SURFACE WIND LESS THAN 10
KTS. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR TAF AMENDMENTS.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...DRY CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH SATURDAY.
DAYTIME MINIMUM RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WILL BE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS TO
LOWER TEENS WITH POOR NIGHTTIME RECOVERY.

BREEZY CONDITIONS ARE ANTICIPATED STARTING WEDNESDAY THROUGH THE
WEEKEND...WITH SOUTHWEST TO WESTERLY WINDS AROUND 15 MPH. LOCALLY
STRONGER WINDS ACROSS NORTHERN GREENLEE AND GRAHAM COUNTIES ON
WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY WILL APPROACH RED FLAG CONDITIONS...BUT
SHOULD NOT HIT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER THRESHOLDS FOR MORE THAN AN
HOUR.

THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR DRY THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE ARIZONA AND
NEW MEXICO BORDER SATURDAY AND SUNDAY...BUT DRY CONDITIONS WILL
PREVAIL ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHEAST ARIZONA.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION...DRAMATIC REBOUND IN HIGH TEMPERATURES TODAY IN
WAKE OF SYSTEM THAT WENT THROUGH THE AREA DURING THE LATTER PART OF
THE MEMORIAL DAY HOLIDAY WEEKEND. CHECK CLIMATE SECTION BELOW FOR
TIDBIT.

SATELLITE IMAGERY THIS AFTERNOON SHOWED SCATTERED TO LOCALLY BROKEN
CIRRUS CLOUDS MOVING ACROSS THE AREA UNDER SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT.
THESE CLOUDS WILL BE AROUND TONIGHT FOR GENERALLY PARTLY CLOUDY
CONDITIONS.

ANOTHER WEST COAST TROF WILL BRING BREEZY TO LOCALLY WINDY
CONDITIONS TO THE AREA STARTING TOMORROW AND CONTINUING INTO THE
WEEKEND. FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS ARE ADDRESSED IN THE FIRE WEATHER
SECTION BELOW.

HIGH TEMPERATURES FOR THE WEEK WILL REMAIN AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE
NORMAL FOR THE FIRST PART OF JUNE.

ANY MOISTURE INCREASE UP FROM OLD MEXICO WILL REMAIN OVER NEW MEXICO
STARTING WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. AS UPPER HIGH OVER THE SOUTHERN
PLAINS START TO BUILD WEST...THE AXIS OF THIS MOISTURE WILL WORKS
ITS WAY WEST TOWARD THE AZ/NM BORDER STARTING SATURDAY AND
CONTINUING INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. DURING THIS TIME THE THREAT OF DRY
LIGHTNING THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS WILL INCREASE.

&&

.CLIMATE...COMING OFF THE COOLEST MEMORIAL DAY IN TUCSON SINCE
1988...WHEN IT WAS 75 DEGREES...THE TEMPERATURES THIS AFTERNOON HAD
A BIG REBOUND AREA WIDE WITH MOST LOCATIONS 8 TO 16 DEGREES WARMER
THAN MONDAY...WITH THE GREATEST CHANGE FROM TUCSON WEST. AS OF 230
PM...TUCSON HAS BEEN UP TO 99 DEGREES. THIS IS 17 DEGREE JUMP FROM
MONDAY...AND IT WOULD RANK AS ONE OF THE GREATEST ONE DAY
TEMPERATURE JUMPS DURING MAY ON RECORD.

TOP ONE DAY TEMPERATURE JUMPS ON RECORD FOR TUCSON IN MAY
1T/ 18 DEGREES...MAY 1905 /71 ON 14TH TO 89 ON 15TH/
1T/ 18 DEGREES...MAY 1940 /70 ON 22ND TO 88 ON 23RD/
3 / 17 DEGREES...MAY 2011 /82 ON 30TH TO 99 ON 31ST/
4 / 16 DEGREES...MAY 1927 /74 ON 10TH TO 86 ON 11TH/

&&

.TWC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.

WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON

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, Chiricahua Mountains

When
June 1, 12:00 AM MST to June 25, 6:00 PM MST
Where
Chiricahua Mountains forecast zone
Injuries
0 direct, 1 indirect
Property damage
$1.0 million
Reported by
Park/Forest Service
Coordinates
31.880, -109.751 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Horseshoe 2 fire continued to burn through much of the month of June as extremely dry conditions and fuels, and strong winds aided in the fire's growth. As the fire continued to grow to the northwest, the communities of Cave Creek Canyon, Paradise, Whitetail Canyon, West Turkey Creek, and West Pinery Canyon were evacuated. Crews were put in place to protect the communities, but some structures were lost. In all, 9 homes and 14 outbuildings burned, including the historic Barfoot fire lookout. Chiricahua National Monument in the northern portion of the fire was closed on June 3 and remained closed through the summer.

One firefighter was injured when he and another lookout were caught between two burnouts. The firefighter required several stitches in his hand after using it to break a window for access to a rock shelter in order to escape the rapidly approaching flames. The fire passed over and into the shelter, but no injuries directly attributed to the fire occurred. However, this indirect injury, when added to the 12 suffered in May, brought the total to 13 firefighters indirectly injured fighting the Horseshoe 2 Fire.

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

More

Every storm in Arizona in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, June 2011

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: 309008.