Cuatro Ciénegas fire, June 2023
Cuatro Ciénegas, San Pedro, Francisco I. Madero
Out · last detection 30 Jun 2023, 20:05 UTC
The fire started on 24 June 2023 in Cuatro Ciénegas, Mexico, and satellites saw it burning for 7 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 3,831 hectares from heat detections, spread across 3 municipalities.
It is the 4th largest in Coahuila de Zaragoza since 2016 (of 27 with a page). Number 71 in Mexico in 2023, of 285.
matches the official recordwith caveatssatellite onlymodel
When copying, the sentence is
Tick the figures you want: they make up the lede and the CSV.
Burned area
with caveats
3,831ha
Perimeter published by GWIS (Copernicus).
This page3,831CONAFOR2,109
Source
GWIS (Copernicus)
Date
24 Jun 2023 – 30 Jun 2023
+− cross-check
CONAFOR: 2,109 ha (matched records: 1). Difference between the page and the official record: +81.6%. Matched on 8 November 2026. The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
Duration by satellite
satellite only
7days
24 Jun 2023 to 30 Jun 2023: first and last day with fire on the page.
Source
GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
last detection: 30 Jun 2023, 20:05 UTC
+− cross-check
Satellites pass a few times a day and cloud or smoke can hide the fire: a lack of detections is not an official extinction. Each country’s emergency service declares a fire contained or out.
Start
satellite only
24 Jun 2023
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
Source
GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
24 Jun 2023
+− cross-check
The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
Hotspots
satellite only
253
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 223 MW.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
Date
24 Jun 2023 – 30 Jun 2023
+− cross-check
There is no official record to compare with. Each hotspot is a pixel detected in one satellite pass, not a separate fire.
The worst day
satellite only
2,070MW
Total radiative power on 28 June 2023; hotspots that day: 121.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
Date
28 Jun 2023
+− cross-check
Fire radiative power (FRP) measures the energy the fire gives off when the satellite passes. Added up by day, it compares intensity, not area.
Danger at the start
model
47.7FWI · very high
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 26.
This is an index computed from weather model data, not a measurement of the fire nor an official warning. Danger warnings are issued by each country’s authority. Emergency number and official warnings ›
Weather during the fire
model
34.7°C · 18% RH
High of 34.7 °C and minimum humidity of 18% on 24 June 2023; gusts of 54 km/h on 25 June 2023.
These are model values for a cell of about 25 km, not from a weather station: they may differ from what was measured on the ground.
ⓘThis page’s change log has been kept since 24 October 2026: every night what it publishes is compared and the difference is logged. Anything earlier is reconstructed from each source’s date and marked as reconstructed.
Show
· reconstructedofficial
Matched with the official CONAFOR record
Nearby records with very different figures: 2,109 ha (records: 1).
A version keeps the area, dates, name and official record; the area as it was logged (changes under 2% are not logged). The map, hotspots and weather always show today’s data.
Citation
A lede of about 60 words figures only, no adjectives
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 2025
Built-up area< 0.1ha
Residents< 20
Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable built-up land and almost nobody lived there (GHSL 2025, 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. The GHSL 2025 epoch is a projection made from 2020 and earlier data.
According to CONAFOR, this fire started on 24 June 2023 and burned 2,109 ha (the satellite measured 3,831 ha). The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
Cuatro CiénegasFelipe Angeles24 June 20232,109 ha· extinguished on 1 July 2023· cause: natural (lightning)
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)
24 Jun
34.7 °C
18 %
45 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 48
25 Jun
34.5 °C
15 %
54 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 46
26 Jun
33.9 °C
15 %
53 km/h
0.0 mm
Extreme 56
27 Jun
33.7 °C
14 %
47 km/h
0.0 mm
Extreme 51
28 Jun
32.5 °C
20 %
49 km/h
0.0 mm
Extreme 51
29 Jun
30.8 °C
24 %
52 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 46
30 Jun
28.6 °C
35 %
49 km/h
1.6 mm
Very high 39
1 Jul after
28.7 °C
32 %
32 km/h
0.7 mm
Moderate 13
2 Jul after
21.0 °C
63 %
34 km/h
17.1 mm
Very low 0
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 47.7, a minimum humidity of 18% and 26 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2017: 5.
FWI at the start47.7
Minimum humidity18 %
Days without rain26
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Cuatro Ciénegas fire, June 2023
3,831 ha7 daysFWI 47.7Min. humidity 18 %
Ocampo fire, May 2017
2,232 ha7 daysFWI 47.3Min. humidity 13 %97 km away, in 2017
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 7.2 mm on 21 May.
Fires in the area that started in similar weather: 5. With fewer than 15 we give no figures: they would be more noise than signal.
This is a bank of analogues: it shows what usually happens, not what will happen. With fewer than 15 twins we give no figures. How we calculate it
How it ended
17.1 mmfirst rain
2 Jul2 days after it ended
54km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 30 Jun, and on 2 Jul 17.1 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out.
Weather on this page: Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (ERA5)
How a twin is chosen
Same area: fires that have already ended, less than 250 km from this one, since 2017.
Same start: we compare the FWI on the first day, the minimum humidity that day and the run of days without rain before it. The slider sets how much they may differ.
Only pages with final weather data (ERA5 reanalysis) calculated in the same way as this fire’s; agricultural and grass burns and pages with data under review are left out.
Fires burning at the same time as this one (a week before or after) are left out: they share the same spell of weather and do not count as a precedent.
They are sorted by similarity, and the outlines of the first five are drawn.
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
↔
Before · 17 Jun 2023
After · 7 Jul 2023
Sentinel-2 did not pass over on that day. Try another date, or use false colour, which is daily.
If the day is cloudy, change the date: each satellite passes once a day. In false colour the burnt ground looks brown or red.
The smoke
CAMS · Copernicus
On 22 June 2023 the air beside the fire reached 21 µg/m³ of PM2.5, but no daily average passed the WHO guideline (15).
PM2.5 peak21µg/m³
Days over the guideline0days
PM1066µg/m³
Optical depth0.55
WHO 15
22 Jun25 Jun28 Jun1 Jul
GoodFairModeratePoorVery poorExtremely poor
Particles from the Copernicus CAMS model at the centre of the perimeter; these are not measurements in each town. The pale bar is the worst hour, the solid one the daily average.
Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS)
Detections table· 253Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.›
⬇ Download CSVTimes in UTC. Each detection is a 375 m pixel: a large fire yields hundreds per pass.
Date and time
Satellite
FRP (MW)
Lat
Lon
Frequently asked questions
How long did the Cuatro Ciénegas fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 24 June 2023 and 30 June 2023: 7 days between the first and last heat detection of the perimeter.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 3,831 hectares (38.3 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 3 municipalities: Cuatro Ciénegas (3,179 ha, 0.3 %); San Pedro (618 ha, 0.1 %); Francisco I. Madero (48 ha, 0.0 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 34.7 °C, humidity dropped to 14 % and gusts hit 54 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 56, class Extreme.
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.
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 errorHow we know this›
Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery.
Dates from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. 253 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with CONAFOR: 2,109 official ha against 3,831 ha of perimeter; similar, but with reservations.
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 2025, 100 m cells), summed inside the perimeter: an estimate of what was there, not a damage count.
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.