Xochistlahuaca fire, March 2021
Xochistlahuaca, Tlacoachistlahuaca
Out · last detection 4 Apr 2021, 07:29 UTC
The fire started on 24 March 2021 in Xochistlahuaca, Mexico, and satellites saw it burning for 12 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 3,047 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 217th largest in Guerrero since 2016 (of 582 with a page). Number 110 in Mexico in 2021, of 294.
The power measured by the satellite is low (18.5 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
3,047ha
Perimeter published by GWIS (Copernicus).
This page3,047CONAFOR2,057
Source
GWIS (Copernicus)
Date
24 Mar 2021 – 4 Apr 2021
+− cross-check
CONAFOR: 2,057 ha (matched records: 1). Difference between the page and the official record: +48.1%. 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
12days
24 Mar 2021 to 4 Apr 2021: first and last day with fire on the page.
Source
GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
last detection: 4 Apr 2021, 07:29 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 Mar 2021
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
Source
GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
24 Mar 2021
+− 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
124
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 19 MW.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
Date
24 Mar 2021 – 4 Apr 2021
+− 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
258MW
Total radiative power on 3 April 2021; hotspots that day: 39.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
Date
3 Apr 2021
+− 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
38.8FWI · very high
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 45.
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
36.3°C · 19% RH
High of 36.3 °C and minimum humidity of 19% on 1 April 2021; gusts of 52 km/h on 3 April 2021.
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.
Living inside
model
≈ 500people
Estimated residents inside the perimeter and 2.4 ha of built-up area (100 m grid, epoch 2020).
Source
GHSL R2023A · JRC
Date
calculated on 24 October 2026
+− cross-check
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.
ⓘ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: 2,057 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
Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.
The weather it burned in
36°high
52km/h · peak gust
19%lowest humidity
It had gone 45 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
46% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 794 ha in 2017, 985 ha in 2019. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 1,408 ha that had burned before.
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 area2.4ha
Residents≈ 500
Inside the perimeter there were about 2.4 hectares of built-up land and about 500 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.
According to CONAFOR, this fire started on 24 March 2021 and burned 2,057 ha (the satellite measured 3,047 ha). The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
XochistlahuacaEjido La Soledad24 March 20212,057 ha· extinguished on 4 April 2021· cause: unknown
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 Mar
30.9 °C
31 %
38 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 39
25 Mar
31.6 °C
43 %
42 km/h
0.0 mm
High 35
26 Mar
29.9 °C
48 %
42 km/h
0.0 mm
High 33
27 Mar
31.9 °C
32 %
48 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 39
28 Mar
32.4 °C
28 %
44 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 42
29 Mar
32.0 °C
35 %
45 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 40
30 Mar
32.2 °C
38 %
52 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 42
31 Mar
31.9 °C
38 %
49 km/h
0.0 mm
High 37
1 Apr
36.3 °C
19 %
31 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 38
2 Apr
36.3 °C
21 %
40 km/h
0.0 mm
High 35
3 Apr
34.8 °C
24 %
52 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 44
4 Apr
32.6 °C
31 %
37 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 43
5 Apr after
31.6 °C
35 %
42 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 43
6 Apr after
30.8 °C
46 %
42 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 39
7 Apr after
33.3 °C
30 %
44 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 41
8 Apr after
32.0 °C
36 %
42 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 41
9 Apr after
33.7 °C
35 %
39 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 40
10 Apr after
33.9 °C
40 %
43 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 40
11 Apr after
32.6 °C
42 %
41 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 40
12 Apr after
33.1 °C
44 %
36 km/h
0.0 mm
High 33
13 Apr after
35.6 °C
32 %
41 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 43
14 Apr after
34.2 °C
25 %
45 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 49
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 38.8, a minimum humidity of 31% and 45 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 22.
FWI at the start38.8
Minimum humidity31 %
Days without rain45
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Xochistlahuaca fire, March 2021
3,047 ha12 daysFWI 38.8Min. humidity 31 %
San Luis Acatlán fire, May 2019
2,134 ha11 daysFWI 41.5Min. humidity 31 %71 km away, in 2019
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 5.3 mm on 27 May.
It burned an area similar to its twins (3,047 ha against a median of 2,503 ha) and lasted 12 days, against 11 days.
In 6 of 22, 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 1.9 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
—first rain
—no rain in ten days
52km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 4 Apr, and not even 1 mm fell in the following ten days: it went out without rain. Twins with rain when they ended: 16 of 22, with a median of 1.9 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 24 March 2021 to 4 April 2021 (12 days). The perimeter dates it from 28 March 2021 to 4 April 2021.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 3,047 hectares (30.5 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Xochistlahuaca (3,055 ha, 6.7 %); Tlacoachistlahuaca (11 ha, 0.0 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 36.3 °C, humidity dropped to 19 % and gusts hit 52 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 44, 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.
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: 22. Their median duration was 11 days and their median area 2,503 ha; 100 % went past 1,000 ha. In 6 of 22, 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 1.9 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 28 March 2021 to 4 April 2021. 124 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with CONAFOR: 2,057 official ha against 3,047 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.