Wildfire in Arizona, June 1 to 30, 2011

Name: Wildfire in Arizona, June 1 to 30, 2011
Start: 2011-06-01T00:00
End: 2011-06-30T23:59
Location: Arizona

June 1 to 30, 2011 · NWS TWC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The largest wildfire in Arizona state history started as an unattended campfire on May 29, 2011. Extreme drought conditions and strong winds allowed for this fire to quickly become out of control.

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 TWC wrote it up.

The largest wildfire in Arizona state history started as an unattended campfire on May 29, 2011. Extreme drought conditions and strong winds allowed for this fire to quickly become out of control. By the time the fire was 100% contained during the beginning of July, 538,049 acres had been charred.

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, White Mountains of Graham and Greenlee Counties

When: June 1, 12:00 AM MST to June 30, 11:59 PM MST
Where: White Mountains of Graham and Greenlee Counties forecast zone
Reported by: Park/Forest Service
Coordinates: 33.074, -109.563 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Wallow Fire continued to burn out of control during the entire month of June. While the brunt of the fire was burning in neighboring Apache County, the fire charred nearly 100,000 acres in northern Greenlee County. The Hannagan Meadow Lodge was evacuated and closed, followed by the closure of Highway 191. Most of the outbuildings and homes damaged were in Apache County, with only a few outbuildings destroyed in northern Greenlee County.

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 Arizona in 2011 Every state in 2011 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 323431.