A lightning strike ignited a wildfire 14 miles southwest of Mack near the Colorado / Utah border.
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The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.
A lightning strike ignited a wildfire 14 miles southwest of Mack near the Colorado / Utah 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 Sep 20, 4:16 PM MST, 5 hours 58 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Grand Junction CO 516 PM MDT Wed Sep 20 2023 .SHORT TERM...(Tonight through Thursday night) Issued at 235 PM MDT Wed Sep 20 2023 The split flow pattern along the Pacific Coast is breaking down by a strong low digging through the PacNW at the moment. Water vapor imagery clearly shows this larger low over WA as well as the weaker southern stream low being kicked our way out of SoCal. More impressive is the ALPW imagery showing pseudo monsoonal moisture spreading northward ahead of the SoCal system. The invasion of the high cloudiness today is an indication of this moisture and this will eventually lead to an increase in convection this evening which linger well into the early morning hours. There are a few opportunities for large scale ascent during this time due to favorable jet dynamics across our southern zones and the piece of energy moving through with the shearing upper low. Orographics will also come into play somewhat...favoring the southern San Juans in this southwest flow event...where another light dusting of snow by sunrise tomorrow would not be unexpected. CAMs...especially Hi-Res NAM and it's scheme...are favoring the southeast CWA early tomorrow morning and this is incorporated into the forecast attm. Subsidence and drying behind this system will bring a slightly cooler and breezy day for Thursday with localized critical fire weather developing in the afternoon over the lower desert valleys. The larger northern stream low will begin to impinge upon the north Thursday night but for now the coverage is spotty so PoPs fairly low attm with plenty of dry air in place. .LONG TERM...(Friday through Wednesday) Issued at 235 PM MDT Wed Sep 20 2023 As far as the long term period is concerned, Friday is the only really 'exciting' day with regards to weather. A 100kt jet streak will be laying overhead as a tightly wound area of low pressure will be situated over eastern OR/western ID. This low pressure will move directly eastward as it slowly fills through the day with the heaviest precip found out ahead and to the north and northeast of the low. Even so, a surface cold front will trail down from the parent low and move across the area Friday afternoon through early Saturday morning and may bring some precip to the area. A few storms and showers are possible though QPF amounts are on the light side. Favored areas for any precip will be along the border and also the Flat Tops and northern mountains as the front moves through. Can't rule out of a skiff of snow for the highest peaks of the eastern Uintahs as well as the northern mountains. Partly to mostly cloudy skies will be the rule north of the Tavaputs/Bookcliffs Friday with partly cloudy to sunny skies elsewhere. Of note will be widespread gusty winds of 25 to 35 mph persisting through sunset for much of the CWA thanks to the tight pressure gradient and stronger winds aloft. Some localized critical fire weather conditions look possible but duration and coverage isn't enough to warrant any highlights at this time. By Saturday morning. the closed low will have moved to eastern Wyoming as our winds become northwesterly and cooler air moves in. Almost all higher elevations will see temperatures at or below freezing as will the towns of Craig, Meeker, Hayden, Aspen, and Steamboat Springs...to name a few (and if they don't hit freezing, they'll get pretty close). A cool start for the first day of autumn. Generally zonal flow then sets up across the region with the only concern being a weak shortwave moving across northern Arizona. The GFS keeps this wave dry and very weak in nature as it moves across southern portions of the CWA Saturday evening through Sunday morning. The EC is more robust and progs some light QPF (<= .1 inch) to fall across the San Juans and southern valleys overnight with any activity over by noon Sunday. Not impressive at all. High pressure then builds in for the rest of the long term period as sunny skies become the rule. Near normal temps Saturday start to increase a few degrees day by day Sunday onwards...still, not a bad start to the first week of autumn. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Thursday evening) Issued at 514 PM MDT Wed Sep 20 2023 Isolated showers are possible now through early morning with little to no impacts. Wind gusts around 25 mph will be common at most sites tomorrow afternoon. Otherwise VFR conditions are expected through the taf period. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...None. UT...None. && SHORT TERM...15 LONG TERM...TGR AVIATION...TGJT
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Grand Junction CO 406 AM MDT Wed Sep 20 2023 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-211015- 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- 406 AM MDT Wed Sep 20 2023 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for northwest Colorado, southwest Colorado, west central Colorado, east central Utah, northeast Utah and southeast Utah. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. Look for mostly dry weather today with a possible isolated shower or thunderstorm over the higher terrain. Gusty southwest winds this afternoon and dry conditions will produce periods of localized critical fire weather conditions in the Four Corners area and the lower valleys along and south of the I-70 corridor. A system moving through overnight will bring scattered showers and thunderstorms to the southern mountains this evening and to the central and northern mountains after midnight. Storms will be capable of producing gusty outflow winds and lightning with little rain expected. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday. Gusty southwest winds and dry conditions will produce periods of localized critical fire weather conditions in the Four Corners area and the lower valleys along and south of the I-70 corridor Thursday and Friday afternoon. Expect another round of scattered showers and thunderstorms across the northern areas Thursday night and Friday as a system lifts overhead. Light winds and dry conditions under high pressure returns for the weekend and next week. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Border Fire started in late September from a lightning strike 14 miles southwest of Mack near the Colorado / Utah border. The fire grew to 1,198 acres before it was contained a few days later.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, September 2023
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: 1128859.