m. A piece of metal roofing was lofted into power lines by high winds, starting the wildfire.
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.
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 PUB wrote it up.
The human-caused wildfire started October 17th around 3:30 a.m. A piece of metal roofing was lofted into power lines by high winds, starting the wildfire. The fire burned on the Pike/San Isabel National Forest (PSI), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Colorado State Land Board, and Private lands. Initially, it rapidly burned through mixed fuels, scorching over 15,000 acres within the first 24 hours, affecting Custer and Pueblo Counties. Nine houses were destroyed, along with 17 outbuildings. Multiple communities were threatened and around 600 people were evacuated from their properties for a time. There were numerous road closures. The wildfire impacted the popular hunting and recreational area. The fire burned 18,403, and was contained on the 5th.
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 Pueblo, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 31, 10:12 PM MST, 1 hour 48 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pueblo CO 1112 PM MDT Mon Oct 31 2016 .UPDATE... Issued at 706 PM MDT Mon Oct 31 2016 Updated to expire the red flag warning. Winds have started to subside across the region and humidity values have begun to recover. No other updates at this time. Mozley UPDATE Issued at 556 PM MDT Mon Oct 31 2016 Updated to remove precipitation chances for the mountain areas for tonight based on the latest model guidance and observations. Also increased winds for the plains this evening behind the cold front. Obs indicate gusts 20 to 25 kts are possible after the front passes. Increased cloud cover this evening due to mid and high cloud cover spread across the region. Mozley && .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Tuesday) Issued at 349 PM MDT Mon Oct 31 2016 Currently...breezy conditions prevail across the region at 2 pm. winds were generally from the west-southwest at 15 to 25 mph with winds 40 to 50 mph in the mtn locations. Obvious high wind radar signatures were being observed in the radar data over the wet mtns and Sangre De Cristo mountains. There was record warmth over the Plains, with temps in the 80s most locations, and 60s to aoa 70F in the valleys. A few light showers were noted over the NW Colorado region. These showers were associated with a weak cold front moving towards the region. Rest of Today into Tonight... Winds will decrease across the region later this evening as short wave lift off to the east-northeast away from the region. A weak cool front will come down the plains...but do not expect much in the way of gusty winds associated with the front. Air is quite dry behind the boundary so no low clouds are anticipated. Min temps tonight will be much cooler that todays earlier min temps, with lows in the 40s most of the plains and 20s and 30s mtns. Tuesday... It will be cooler with much less wind over the region. Temps will cool into the lower 60s across the lower parts of El Paso county to low 70s across the southeast plains. Skies will be mainly clear across the lower elevations but a few showers cant be ruled out across the NW slopes of the central mtn region. .LONG TERM...(Tuesday night through Monday) Issued at 349 PM MDT Mon Oct 31 2016 Main meteorological issues during the longer term include temperatures and pops. Recent longer term computer simulations, PV analysis and forecast model soundings suggest that relatively tranquil and mild early November conditions should prevail into the mid to late week time-frame in advance of potentially unsettled conditions developing over portions of the CWFA by the weekend and then again by early next week as upper systems attempt to impact southern Colorado during these time-frames. Basically dry southwesterly to southerly upper flow is expected over the majority of the forecast district(outside of far southern and southwestern portions at times) from Tuesday night into late week as a closed upper low becomes situated over southern Arizona from Wednesday into at least Thursday night. In addition, a north-northeasterly surface surge is expected to move across eastern sections of the forecast district Wednesday. Then, meteorological focus shifts to the southern Arizona closed upper low as it moves into east-central Arizona by Thursday evening and then into the 4-Corners region by later Friday before traversing Colorado during the weekend before shifting east of the forecast district Sunday night. Then, another round of unsettled meteorological conditions will be possible from later Monday into at least Monday night as secondary/trailing closed upper low impacts Colorado. As always, WFO Pueblo will monitor the development and track of these potential incoming systems closely. Finally, at this time, generally above seasonal early November maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to continue over the majority of the forecast district during the balance of the longer term. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Tuesday night) Issued at 1109 PM MDT Mon Oct 31 2016 VFR conditions expected at the TAF sites overnight with light winds. On Tuesday...southeast winds will increase into the 10-15 kt range at KCOS and KPUB during the afternoon. Meanwhile...breezy southwest winds will spread into the KALS terminal around 18z. Isolated showers will be possible along the continental divide...though CIGS/VIS will remain VFR to MVFR. -KT && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && UPDATE...MOZLEY AVIATION...KT
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO 712 PM MDT MON OCT 31 2016 COZ058>089-093>099-020115- WESTERN MOSQUITO RANGE/EAST LAKE COUNTY ABOVE 11000 FT- LEADVILLE VICINITY/LAKE COUNTY BELOW 11000 FT- EASTERN SAWATCH MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FT- WESTERN CHAFFEE COUNTY BETWEEN 9000 AND 11000 FT- CENTRAL CHAFFEE COUNTY BELOW 9000 FT- WESTERN MOSQUITO RANGE/EAST CHAFFEE COUNTY ABOVE 9000FT- SAGUACHE COUNTY WEST OF CONTINENTAL DIVIDE BELOW 10000 FT- SAGUACHE COUNTY EAST OF CONTINENTAL DIVIDE BELOW 10000 FT- LA GARITA MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT- UPPER RIO GRANDE VALLEY/EASTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS BELOW 10000 FT- EASTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT- DEL NORTE VICINITY/NORTHERN SAN LUIS VALLEY BELOW 8500 FT- ALAMOSA VICINITY/CENTRAL SAN LUIS VALLEY BELOW 8500 FT- SOUTHERN SAN LUIS VALLEY- NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 8500 AND 11000 FT- NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FT- SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 7500 AND 11000 FT- SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FT- NORTHWESTERN FREMONT COUNTY ABOVE 8500FT- WESTERN/CENTRAL FREMONT COUNTY BELOW 8500 FT- WET MOUNTAIN VALLEY BELOW 8500 FT- WET MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 6300 AND 10000FT- WET MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT- TELLER COUNTY/RAMPART RANGE ABOVE 7500FT/PIKE'S PEAK BETWEEN 7500 AND 11000 FT-PIKES PEAK ABOVE 11000 FT- CANON CITY VICINITY/EASTERN FREMONT COUNTY- NORTHERN EL PASO COUNTY/MONUMENT RIDGE/RAMPART RANGE BELOW 7500 FT- COLORADO SPRINGS VICINITY/SOUTHERN EL PASO COUNTY/RAMPART RANGE BELOW 7400 FT-PUEBLO VICINITY/PUEBLO COUNTY BELOW 6300 FEET- WALSENBURG VICINITY/UPPER HUERFANO RIVER BASIN BELOW 7500 FT- TRINIDAD VICINITY/WESTERN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY BELOW 7500 FT- CROWLEY COUNTY-LA JUNTA VICINITY/OTERO COUNTY- EASTERN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY-WESTERN KIOWA COUNTY- EASTERN KIOWA COUNTY-LAS ANIMAS VICINITY/BENT COUNTY- LAMAR VICINITY/PROWERS COUNTY-SPRINGFIELD VICINITY/BACA COUNTY- 712 PM MDT MON OCT 31 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL...EAST CENTRAL...SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY A FEW SNOW SHOWERS WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER THE MOUNTAINS TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY WITH MINOR SNOW ACCUMULATIONS POSSIBLE OVER THE HIGHER PEAKS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS WILL NOT BE NEEDED TONIGHT. 88/88
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, November 2016
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: 661108.