Lightning Strike in Wyoming, August 1 to 8, 2001

Name: Lightning Strike in Wyoming, August 1 to 8, 2001
Start: 2001-08-01T00:00
End: 2001-08-08T17:00
Location: Wyoming

August 1 to 8, 2001 · NWS UNR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Lightning ignited a fire east of Newcastle in Weston County. This fire blew up and crossed the state line into Custer County in South Dakota.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS UNR wrote it up.

Lightning ignited a fire east of Newcastle in Weston County. This fire blew up and crossed the state line into Custer County in South Dakota. The fire began in Weston County, Wyoming, however most of the 26,800 acres burned occurred across the state line in South Dakota.

What forecasters said that day

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 Rapid City, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 31, 1:00 PM MST, 11 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 1:00 PM MST, 11 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
200 PM MDT TUE JUL 31 2001

CURRENT SURFACE MAP SHOWS COLD FRONT FROM NORTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA
TO SOUTHWEST SOUTH DAKOTA...WITH TROF MOVING THROUGH SOUTH CENTRAL
SOUTH DAKOTA. SKIES HAVE CLEAR OUT ACROSS THE WESTERN HALF OF CWA
THIS AFTERNOON...WITH SOME CUMULUS REDEVELOPING. FRONT CONTINUES
PROGRESSION EAST TONIGHT...WITH HIGH BUILDING IN. HIGH REMAINS OVER
THE AREA WEDNESDAY WITH LIGHT WINDS. FORECAST SOUNDINGS SUPPORT A
DRY FORECAST.

THE HIGH MOVES EAST WEDNESDAY NIGHT...WITH RETURN FLOW SETTING UP
OVER THE WESTERN HALF OF THE CWA. SOME WARM AIR/THETA-E ADVECTION
WEDNESDAY NIGHT...HOWEVER WITH CONDENSATION PRESSURE DEFICITS OF
150-200MB WILL LEAVE THE FORECAST DRY. LEE TROF MOVES INTO EASTERN
WYOMING THURSDAY...WITH DEWPOINTS OF 60+ FORECAST TO MOVE BACK INTO
WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA. WILL ADD A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS FOR
THURSDAY.

IN THE EXTENDED...RIDGE BUILDS ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THE WEEKEND
INTO NEXT WEEK. MRF/AVN GIVE A SLIGHT INDICATION THAT MONSOONAL
MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK UP IN SOUTHWEST FLOW...SO WILL LEAVE
IN THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE WEEKEND.

.UNR...NONE.
KC

The radar

The Rapid City radar (KUDX), 143 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:02 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Weston

When: August 1, 12:00 AM MST to August 8, 5:00 PM MST
Where: Weston County, 1 mi E of Newcastle
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE
Coordinates: 43.841, -104.568 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Wyoming in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Wyoming, August 2001

Sources

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: 5265961.