Tlalnepantla fire, May 2019
Tlalnepantla, Milpa Alta
Out · last detection 16 May 2019, 07:48 UTC
The fire started on 6 May 2019 in Tlalnepantla, Mexico, and satellites saw it burning for 11 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 1,570 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.
Number 339 in Mexico in 2019, of 363.
The power measured by the satellite is low (21.0 MW in the strongest hotspot), more typical of grass or stubble burning, or a slow surface fire, than of a large crown fire.
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
1,570ha
Perimeter published by GWIS (Copernicus).
This page1,570CONAFOR1,000
Source
GWIS (Copernicus)
Date
6 May 2019 – 16 May 2019
+− cross-check
CONAFOR: 1,000 ha (matched records: 7). Difference between the page and the official record: +57.0%. 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
11days
6 May 2019 to 16 May 2019: first and last day with fire on the page.
Source
GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
last detection: 16 May 2019, 07:48 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
6 May 2019
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
Source
GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
6 May 2019
+− 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
77
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 21 MW.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
Date
6 May 2019 – 16 May 2019
+− 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
182MW
Total radiative power on 10 May 2019; hotspots that day: 21.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
Date
10 May 2019
+− 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
16.5FWI · moderate
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 2.
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
23.8°C · 19% RH
High of 23.8 °C and minimum humidity of 19% on 14 May 2019; gusts of 41 km/h on 14 May 2019.
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
· reconstructedweather
Weather and FWI computed from the ERA5 reanalysis
· reconstructedofficial
Matched with the official CONAFOR record
Nearby records with very different figures: 1,000 ha (records: 7).
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 2020
Built-up area< 0.1ha
Residents< 20
Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable built-up land and almost nobody lived there (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.
According to CONAFOR, 7 fires started inside this perimeter on these dates, totalling 1,000 ha (the satellite measured 1,570 ha). The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
CONAFOR records each fire that started at a different time or place separately; the satellite sees a single burned area, so this page groups them together. The numbers on the map show where each one started.
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)
6 May
20.5 °C
24 %
35 km/h
0.0 mm
Moderate 16
7 May
21.9 °C
17 %
38 km/h
0.0 mm
High 22
8 May
21.8 °C
18 %
39 km/h
0.0 mm
High 26
9 May
21.4 °C
19 %
39 km/h
0.0 mm
High 28
10 May
22.5 °C
15 %
41 km/h
0.0 mm
High 30
11 May
22.6 °C
21 %
40 km/h
0.0 mm
High 29
12 May
22.5 °C
22 %
36 km/h
0.0 mm
High 30
13 May
22.2 °C
21 %
40 km/h
0.0 mm
High 32
14 May
23.8 °C
19 %
41 km/h
0.0 mm
High 32
15 May
23.4 °C
17 %
40 km/h
0.0 mm
High 32
16 May
20.3 °C
29 %
36 km/h
5.2 mm
High 27
17 May after
18.9 °C
49 %
34 km/h
0.7 mm
Very low 3
18 May after
22.2 °C
38 %
33 km/h
3.2 mm
Low 7
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 16.5, a minimum humidity of 24% and 2 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 23.
FWI at the start16.5
Minimum humidity24 %
Days without rain2
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Tlalnepantla fire, May 2019
1,570 ha11 daysFWI 16.5Min. humidity 24 %
Huitzuco de los Figueroa fire, March 2018
1,555 ha8 daysFWI 15.8Min. humidity 24 %108 km away, in 2018
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
It stayed below its twins: 1,570 ha against a median of 2,352 ha. It lasted 11 days, against 9 days.
In 3 of 23, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 3.2 mm.
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
3.2 mmfirst rain
18 May2 days after it ended
41km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 16 May, and on 18 May 3.2 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 20 of 23, with a median of 3.2 mm.
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 2016.
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.
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 6 May 2019 to 16 May 2019 (11 days). The perimeter dates it from 6 May 2019 to 14 May 2019.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 1,570 hectares (15.7 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Tlalnepantla (1,547 ha, 14 %); Milpa Alta (32 ha, 0.1 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 23.8 °C, humidity dropped to 15 % and gusts hit 41 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 32, class 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.
How did the fires that started in similar weather in this area end?
Fires less than 250 km away that started since 2016 with a similar FWI, humidity and dry spell: 23. Their median duration was 9 days and their median area 2,352 ha; 100 % went past 1,000 ha. In 3 of 23, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 3.2 mm.
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 adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 6 May 2019 to 14 May 2019. 77 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with CONAFOR: 1,000 official ha against 1,570 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 2020, 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.