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Coyuca de Catalán fire, 12 April 2019 Coyuca de Catalán, Zirándaro

Out · last detection 24 May 2019, 19:49 UTC

The fire started on 12 April 2019 in Coyuca de Catalán, Mexico, and satellites saw it burning for 42 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 33,845 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.

It is the 4th largest in Guerrero since 2016 (of 612 with a page). Number 3 in Mexico in 2019, of 364.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Zirándaro · 2017Coyuca de Catalán · 2017Coyuca de Catalán · 2017Zirándaro · 2016

Burnt area
33,845ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
42days
12 Apr 2019 – 23 May 2019
Municipalities hit
2
municipalities
Started on
12 Apr
2019
Heat detections
1,851
in a single hotspot: 90 MW
Danger at start
44
Very high · FWI index
Average daily power
191MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 12 Apr23 May
24 May 2019

How it evolved, day by day

12 Apr 2019 · 17 MW · 2 13 Apr 2019 · 33 MW · 10 14 Apr 2019 · 146 MW · 20 15 Apr 2019 · 221 MW · 53 16 Apr 2019 · 264 MW · 39 17 Apr 2019 · 173 MW · 49 18 Apr 2019 · 152 MW · 46 19 Apr 2019 · 288 MW · 55 20 Apr 2019 · 138 MW · 18 21 Apr 2019 · 325 MW · 88 22 Apr 2019 · 493 MW · 119 23 Apr 2019 · 428 MW · 147 24 Apr 2019 · 702 MW · 122 25 Apr 2019 · 252 MW · 101 26 Apr 2019 · 235 MW · 61 27 Apr 2019 · 281 MW · 75 28 Apr 2019 · 43 MW · 24 29 Apr 2019 · 9 MW · 8 30 Apr 2019 · 310 MW · 22 1 May 2019 · 183 MW · 66 2 May 2019 · 220 MW · 44 3 May 2019 · 173 MW · 51 4 May 2019 · 37 MW · 20 5 May 2019 · 91 MW · 22 6 May 2019 · 111 MW · 29 7 May 2019 · 139 MW · 30 8 May 2019 · 269 MW · 63 9 May 2019 · 742 MW · 103 10 May 2019 · 348 MW · 66 11 May 2019 · 239 MW · 66 12 May 2019 · 145 MW · 43 13 May 2019 · 112 MW · 30 14 May 2019 · 141 MW · 27 15 May 2019 · 97 MW · 16 16 May 2019 · 4 MW · 2 17 May 2019 · 61 MW · 2 18 May 2019 · 46 MW · 9 19 May 2019 · 121 MW · 15 20 May 2019 · 59 MW · 10 21 May 2019 · 19 MW · 5 22 May 2019 · 99 MW · 29 23 May 2019 · 220 MW · 38 24 May 2019 · 29 MW · 6
12 Apr 19 Apr 26 Apr 3 May 9 May 10 May 17 May 24 May

Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.

The weather it burned in

31°high
50km/h · peak gust
11%lowest humidity

It had gone more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 2.8 mm on 24 May.

This area had burned before

73% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 5,772 ha in 2016, 21,208 ha in 2017, 366 ha in 2018. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 24,775 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 21% of the area of London (338 km² against 1,583 km²).

London boundary: geoBoundaries · Office for National Statistics (Open Government Licence v3.0).

This compares size, not location: both shapes are at the same scale, north up, centred on each other.

What happened to each town

  1. Coyuca de Catalán where it started
    20,521 ha reached on 12 Apr
    6.1 %
  2. Zirándaro
    13,498 ha reached on 15 Apr
    6.3 %

Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the GWIS perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance runs from the point marking the centre of each area to the nearest fire: staying a kilometre away does not mean it reached the houses.

People and buildings inside the perimeter

GHSL 2020
Built-up area4.4 ha
Residents≈ 300

Inside the perimeter there were about 4.4 hectares of built-up land and about 300 residents (GHSL 2020, satellite-based estimate).

This is an estimate on 100 m cells, made from satellite imagery and census data: it does not mean that homes burned or that anyone was harmed. The perimeter also contains land that never burned.

Source: Global Human Settlement Layer (GHS-BUILT-S and GHS-POP R2023A), European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), © European Union, CC BY 4.0. Sum inside the perimeter computed by WorldFires. human-settlement.emergency.copernicus.eu

The weather day by day

ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, the standard reference for past weather, and the Canadian Fire Weather Index (the same system Copernicus uses), computed by WorldFires from that data. Days after the fire run until the first rain.

Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (ERA5)

Day High Min. humidity Peak gust Rain Danger (FWI)
12 Apr 26.2 °C 12 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
13 Apr 26.5 °C 16 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
14 Apr 27.3 °C 13 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
15 Apr 28.5 °C 24 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
16 Apr 29.1 °C 19 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
17 Apr 29.5 °C 24 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
18 Apr 28.8 °C 20 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
19 Apr 28.5 °C 23 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
20 Apr 28.7 °C 27 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
21 Apr 27.9 °C 25 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
22 Apr 28.1 °C 23 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
23 Apr 30.2 °C 18 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
24 Apr 27.9 °C 12 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
25 Apr 29.0 °C 17 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
26 Apr 29.9 °C 14 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
27 Apr 29.8 °C 17 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
28 Apr 29.6 °C 20 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
29 Apr 30.0 °C 20 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
30 Apr 30.8 °C 19 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
1 May 31.0 °C 19 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
2 May 31.1 °C 12 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
3 May 29.6 °C 19 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
4 May 28.9 °C 23 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
5 May 28.8 °C 22 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
6 May 28.8 °C 16 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
7 May 30.5 °C 11 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
8 May 30.0 °C 11 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
9 May 29.3 °C 17 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
10 May 28.8 °C 16 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
11 May 30.0 °C 20 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
12 May 28.0 °C 30 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
13 May 28.6 °C 31 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
14 May 28.5 °C 23 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
15 May 28.1 °C 30 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
16 May 28.1 °C 31 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
17 May 26.6 °C 28 % 44 km/h 1.1 mm High 25
18 May 27.8 °C 36 % 45 km/h 0.5 mm High 27
19 May 30.0 °C 23 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
20 May 29.8 °C 29 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
21 May 29.7 °C 31 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
22 May 29.0 °C 32 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
23 May 29.2 °C 33 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
24 May after 27.3 °C 40 % 31 km/h 2.8 mm Low 8

Before and after, from space

Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.

Before · 5 Apr 2019
After · 30 May 2019

If the day is cloudy, change the date: each satellite passes once a day. In false colour the burnt ground looks brown or red.

Detections table · 1,851Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
⬇ Download CSV Times in UTC. Each detection is a 375 m pixel: a large fire yields hundreds per pass.
Date and timeSatelliteFRP (MW)LatLon

Other fires nearby

All fires in Mexico ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Coyuca de Catalán fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 12 April 2019 to 23 May 2019 (42 days). The perimeter dates it from 12 April 2019 to 16 May 2019.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 33,845 hectares (338.4 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Coyuca de Catalán (20,521 ha, 6.1 %); Zirándaro (13,498 ha, 6.3 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 31.1 °C, humidity dropped to 11 % and gusts hit 50 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 47, class Very high.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Mexico (geoBoundaries). It is not an official report.

Where to verify it

A satellite detection is not an official report. Final figures and the fire’s status are published by each country’s emergency service.

Emergency number: 911 · Emergency number and official warnings ›

Satellite cross-check

History of this page · 1 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
  1. Last day with fire: 16 May 2019 → 23 May 2019.

RSS Changes to this page

Does something look wrong on this page?

This page is built from satellite data and official records, and it sometimes gets things wrong: the wrong dates, the wrong town, two fires merged into one, or something that was not a wildfire at all. If you know this fire first-hand (you live nearby, saw it, fought it or reported on it), tell us what really happened and we will check it.

Report an error
What do you think is wrong?

We will only use your email to reply about this report. Privacy. This is not an emergency service: if there is a fire now, call 911.

How we know this
  • Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery; 2 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 12 April 2019 to 16 May 2019. 1,851 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
  • We have not matched this page with any official record.
  • Weather: Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, in cells of about 25 km.
  • Built-up area and population come from the JRC Global Human Settlement Layer (epoch 2020, 100 m cells), summed inside the perimeter: an estimate of what was there, not a damage count.

How we build fire pages: methodology ›

Where this data comes from

The perimeter comes from the Copernicus Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS), which rebuilds it from MODIS and VIIRS heat detections and publishes it under CC BY 4.0. It is not measured on imagery as in Europe, so it is an estimate. Heat detections come from the VIIRS sensors aboard Suomi-NPP and NOAA-20, distributed by NASA FIRMS at 375 m resolution. Municipal boundaries come from geoBoundaries ADM2 (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)). The area per municipality is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ from each country’s official figure.