A lightning strike ignited a wildfire on Monument Ridge, about 5 miles north of the Grand County border.
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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 GJT wrote it up.
A lightning strike ignited a wildfire on Monument Ridge, about 5 miles north of the Grand County border.
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 Grand Junction, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 8, 10:42 AM MST, 2 hours 18 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Grand Junction CO 1142 AM MDT Wed Aug 8 2018 .SHORT TERM...(Today through Thursday) Issued at 300 AM MDT Wed Aug 8 2018 A strong ridge of high pressure will build over the Great Basin the next 48 hours, turning winds aloft over eastern UT and western CO to the northwest. This situation will continue carrying smoke from western wild fires into the area, combining with smoke from local wildfires. The visibility will lower to about 5 miles at times. Subsidence inversion and light transport winds will help keep the smoke trapped in the area. .LONG TERM...(Thursday night through Tuesday) Issued at 300 AM MDT Wed Aug 8 2018 The long term forecast will begin with a sprawling ridge of high pressure centered over northern Utah on Thursday night. This ridge will begin to stretch, flatten, and weaken over the western CONUS from Friday through the weekend due to a few factors. The first will be a potent shortwave trough that will come ashore in the far northern Pacific Northwest. While any moisture with this system will be far removed from the central (and even northern) Rockies, this trough will effectively drag the northern portion of the ridge eastward into the northern high plains. Meanwhile, southerly and easterly flow in central Mexico will increase, partly due to the influence of Hurricane John in the EPAC. This moist, subtropical flow will spread northward across the Mexican border and into Arizona and New Mexico by the weekend. 500mb heights will lower, and upper-level flow will come to a near standstill over the Four Corners. So...what does this mean for surface weather conditions in Colorado and Utah? We can expect to see a bit of an uptick in shower and thunderstorm chances, at least in southwestern Colorado by Friday afternoon. The lack of strong flow aloft will allow some mid level moisture to creep northward, and by Sunday much of the higher terrain in both Colorado and Utah will have a better chance of monsoonally influenced precipitation. The caveat to this forecast is the ECMWF, which is notably drier than the GFS. The ECMWF suppresses the subtropical plume partly associated with John, resulting in less confidence in weekend precipitation. This disparity has been present in the past few model cycles, and therefore only low to moderate confidence is given to the weekend forecast at this time. Beyond the weekend and into early next week, both major global models build the ridge of high pressure back in over the southwestern CONUS. It will likely be a 'dirty ridge' however, with sufficient low and mid level moisture present underneath for afternoon thunderstorm development in the higher terrain. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Thursday afternoon) Issued at 1142 AM MDT Wed Aug 8 2018 High pressure will remain overhead through the next 24 hours, resulting in mostly clear skies and generally light and terrain driven winds. Some gusts to 20 knots will be possible through 02Z tonight. High level clouds will increase by mid Thursday morning as moisture slowly increases. Smoke from nearby wildfires will persist with areas of localized reduced visibility expected. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...None. UT...None. && SHORT TERM...CC LONG TERM...MAC AVIATION...MMS
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Grand Junction CO 251 AM MDT Wed Aug 8 2018 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-090900- Lower Yampa River Basin-Central Yampa River Basin- Roan and Tavaputs Plateaus-Elkhead and Park Mountains- Upper Yampa River Basin-Grand Valley-Debeque to Silt Corridor- Central Colorado River Basin-Grand and Battlement Mesas- Gore and Elk Mountains/Central Mountain Valleys- Central Gunnison and Uncompahgre River Basin- West Elk and Sawatch Mountains-Flat Tops- Upper Gunnison River Valley-Uncompahgre Plateau and Dallas Divide- Northwest San Juan Mountains-Southwest San Juan Mountains- Paradox Valley/Lower Dolores River- Four Corners/Upper Dolores River-Animas River Basin- San Juan River Basin-Southeast Utah-Eastern Uinta Mountains- Eastern Uinta Basin-Tavaputs Plateau-Arches/Grand Flat- La Sal and Abajo Mountains-Canyonlands/Natural Bridges- 251 AM MDT Wed Aug 8 2018 This hazardous weather outlook is for eastern Utah and western Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Hot and dry conditions with areas of smoke will continue. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday The chance of afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms will gradually increase, mainly in the mountains. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Monument 2 Fire began due to lightning ignition on Monument Ridge, 5 miles north of the Grand County border and grew to a total of 209 acres before it was contained.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Utah in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, August 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: 766486.