The Carson Midway fire, started accidentally by an Army aviation training exercise on the Fort Carson Military base, ignited on March 16. The fire, fueled by strong winds, low humidity, and dry vegetation, quickly spread off base, burning 400 acres on Fort Carson and 2,900 acres outside of Fort Carson.
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 Carson Midway fire, started accidentally by an Army aviation training exercise on the Fort Carson Military base, ignited on March 16. The fire, fueled by strong winds, low humidity, and dry vegetation, quickly spread off base, burning 400 acres on Fort Carson and 2,900 acres outside of Fort Carson. The fire destroyed two homes, and forced hundreds to evacuate temporarily. The fire was contained on March 18, except for continued burning of some tires, which were extinguished on March 22.
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 Mar 16, 10:40 AM MST, 20 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pueblo CO 1140 AM MDT Fri Mar 16 2018 .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 411 AM MDT Fri Mar 16 2018 ...Some Precipitation Across the Plains but Still Red Flag Conditions Today... Well, the upper low ended up moving across a little farther south than expected, bringing some wetting precipitation to parts of the plains. According to my quick calculations, about 0.12 inches fell at the Colorado Springs Airport as a mixture of wet snow and rain. And, about 0.25 inches fell at the La Junta Airport in the form of rain. About 0.03 inches has measured at the Springfield Airport. It's precipitating at the Lamar Airport, too, so far coming in with 0.08 inches. While this may put a damper, sort of speak, on the Red Flag Warning for some of those areas that received precipitation, it's not really enough to lower the warning. While a few spots, such as the La Junta Airport, received some truly wetting precipitation, not all areas did. Strong subsident flow off of the mountains behind this system will really kick up the winds and tank the dewpoints across the area this afternoon. Since fuels are dry because they are dead, with no greenup underway, the strong winds and low humidities should make quick work of any moisture that has temporarily dampened the fuels this morning. Plus, not all areas saw much, if any, precipitation. According to precipitation estimates from the radar, most of the Red Flag Warning area saw little or no precipitation, including the San Luis Valley, most of the eastern mountains, most of the I-25 corridor, Fremont, Las Animas and Baca Counties. So, while the precipitation that has fallen in some areas this morning may dampen the surface and delay the onset of fire concerns a little, all surface moisture should be evaporated by the afternoon with Red Flag conditions underway. As for the winter weather highlights, will lower them with this morning's forecast package. While light snow continues along the Divide, any additional accumulations are expected to be fairly light, generally in the 1 to 3 inch range. It'll be windy across the entire area today. Gusts to 40 mph or more will be common. The mountains and far eastern plains, could even see some gusts in the 50-60 mph range this morning. While these are strong, it doesn't look like they will be strong enough to continue the High Wind Warning for the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains that was in effect. Will also lower that warning with this morning's package. .LONG TERM...(Saturday through Thursday) Issued at 411 AM MDT Fri Mar 16 2018 Saturday-Saturday night...Moderate west to southwest flow aloft across the region early Saturday gives way to increasing southwest flow into Saturday night, as short wave ridging translates across the Rockies ahead of a deep upper trough digging into the Southern Great Basin. Models in agreement of dry weather across the area through this period, with induced lee troughing across the I-25 Corridor leading to breezy south to southeast winds of 15 to 30 mph developing across the far Southeast Plains Saturday afternoon. These winds, combined with afternoon humidity levels falling to between 10- 15 percent, will lead to another day of critical fire weather conditions and have issued a fire weather watch from 18Z Sat through 01Z Sunday. Highs on Saturday look to warm back to above seasonal levels, in the 60s to low 70s across the lower elevations and in the 40s and 50s across the higher terrain. Sunday-Monday...The 06Z NAM and 00Z ECMWF runs continue to trend slower and further south with the evolution of the next storm system, which brings better chances of wind driven precipitation across the southern Colorado later Sunday afternoon through Sunday night, with the GFS still further north with the system, keeping the main precipitation along and north of the Palmer Divide into Northeastern Colorado and Northwestern Kansas. Again, all solutions bring a quick shot of the snow the ContDvd once again late Saturday night through the day Sunday, with light to moderate accumulations expected along and west of the ContDvd. Precipitation across the Eastern Mountains and Plains will depend on the track of a compact mid level circulation and if its associated deformation band sets up before expected strong north to northwest downslope winds develop. With that said, I have increased blended model pops across the Eastern Mountains and portions of the I-25 Corridor, though will need to continue to monitor the evolution of this system, as it has the potential to produce areas of wind driven snow, along with much needed precipitation across portions of the Plains later Sunday and Sunday night. Time well tell. At any rate, strong gradient winds develop across the plains behind the system Sunday night which slowly relax Monday morning and into the afternoon. Models continue to agree on a minor embedded wave digging across the Rockies Monday afternoon, owning to a few showers possible across the higher terrain. Tuesday-Thursday...Warmer and drier conditions expected into the middle of next week, as upper level ridging builds into the Rockies once again. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Saturday afternoon) Issued at 1128 AM MDT Fri Mar 16 2018 VFR conditions are expected at KCOS, KPUB and KALS the next 24 hrs. Strong west to northwest winds will continue into the evening hours, but will then decrease later in the evening. && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Red Flag Warning until 7 PM MDT this evening for COZ222-224>237. Fire Weather Watch from Saturday afternoon through Saturday evening for COZ233>237. && SHORT TERM...LW LONG TERM...MW AVIATION...28
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Pueblo CO 1147 AM MDT Fri Mar 16 2018 COZ058>089-093>099-171800- Western Mosquito Range/East Lake County Above 11000 Feet- Leadville Vicinity/Lake County Below 11000 Feet- Eastern Sawatch Mountains Above 11000 Feet- Western Chaffee County Between 9000 and 11000 Feet- Central Chaffee County Below 9000 Feet- Western Mosquito Range/East Chaffee County Above 9000 Feet- Saguache County West of Continental Divide Below 10000 Feet- Saguache County East of Continental Divide Below 10000 Feet- La Garita Mountains Above 10000 Feet- Upper Rio Grande Valley/Eastern San Juan Mountains Below 10000 Feet-Eastern San Juan Mountains Above 10000 Feet- Del Norte Vicinity/Northern San Luis Valley Below 8500 Feet- Alamosa Vicinity/Central San Luis Valley Below 8500 Feet- Southern San Luis Valley- Northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains Between 8500 And 11000 Feet- Northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains Above 11000 Feet- Southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains Between 7500 and 11000 Feet- Southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains Above 11000 Feet- Northwestern Fremont County Above 8500 Feet- Western/Central Fremont County Below 8500 Feet- Wet Mountain Valley Below 8500 Feet- Wet Mountains between 6300 and 10000 Feet- Wet Mountains Above 10000 Feet- Teller County/Rampart Range Above 7500 Feet/Pikes Peak Between 7500 And 11000 Feet-Pikes Peak Above 11000 Feet- Canon City Vicinity/Eastern Fremont County- Northern El Paso County/Monument Ridge/Rampart Range Below 7500 Feet- Colorado Springs Vicinity/Southern El Paso County/Rampart Range Below 7400 Feet-Pueblo Vicinity/Pueblo County Below 6300 Feet- Walsenburg Vicinity/Upper Huerfano River Basin Below 7500 Feet- Trinidad Vicinity/Western Las Animas County Below 7500 Feet- 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- 1147 AM MDT Fri Mar 16 2018 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of central...east central...south central and southeast Colorado. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight Critical fire weather conditions will be reached across most of south central and southeast Colorado today. Strong winds and low humidities across the area, along with dry fuel conditions, will cause the high fire danger today. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday Critical fire weather conditions will be possible across the far southeast Colorado Plains Saturday afternoon. Another storm system will bring a round of snow to the higher terrain along and west of the Continental Divide late Saturday night and through the day Sunday, with light to moderate snow accumulations possible. This fast moving system will bring a chance of rain showers, and higher elevation snow showers to the rest of the higher terrain Sunday, and to the Eastern Plains late Sunday afternoon through Sunday night, with the potential for wind driven snow along the Palmer Divide. The quick movement of this system is expected to limit the amount of precipitation across Southeast Colorado. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Weather spotters will not be needed today or tonight. 28/28
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
719 AM MDT FRI MAR 16 2018
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0648 AM SNOW 1 SE WOLF CREEK PASS 37.47N 106.79W
03/16/2018 M10.0 INCH MINERAL CO PUBLIC
48 HOUR SNOWFALL TOTAL REPORTED BY WOLF
CREEK SKI AREA. 8 INCHES IN THE PAST 24
HOURS.
&&
LWPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
720 AM MDT FRI MAR 16 2018
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0700 AM SNOW 1 NNW MONARCH PASS 38.51N 106.33W
03/16/2018 M4.0 INCH CHAFFEE CO PUBLIC
24 HOUR SNOWFALL TOTAL REPORTED BY MONARCH
SKI AREA.
&&
LWPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
833 AM MDT FRI MAR 16 2018
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0800 AM SNOW 2 NNE MONUMENT 39.12N 104.86W
03/16/2018 M2.8 INCH EL PASO CO TRAINED SPOTTER
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
1040 AM MDT FRI MAR 16 2018
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0800 AM SNOW 5 S BLACK FOREST 38.95N 104.71W
03/16/2018 M1.0 INCH EL PASO CO TRAINED SPOTTER
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
1045 AM MDT FRI MAR 16 2018
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0700 AM SNOW 7 WSW PEYTON 38.99N 104.60W
03/16/2018 M1.0 INCH EL PASO CO COCORAHS
0700 AM SNOW 2 SW BLACK FOREST 39.00N 104.72W
03/16/2018 M1.1 INCH EL PASO CO TRAINED SPOTTER
0700 AM SNOW 7 ENE MONUMENT 39.12N 104.75W
03/16/2018 M1.3 INCH EL PASO CO COCORAHS
0700 AM SNOW 2 ENE MONUMENT 39.11N 104.83W
03/16/2018 M2.8 INCH EL PASO CO COCORAHS
&&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 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, March 2018
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: 742413.