Wildfire, Park
- When
- August 18, 3:00 PM MST to August 25, 12:00 AM MST
- Where
- Park County, 13 mi S of Meeteetse
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 44.521, -109.588 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Wyoming, August 18 to 25, 2001
The Renner Draw complex Fire was started by lightning. The fire burned 2800 acres.
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
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 RIW wrote it up.
The Renner Draw complex Fire was started by lightning. The fire burned 2800 acres. Ending location estimated.
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 Riverton, WY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 18, 1:26 PM MST, 1 hour 34 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 18, 1:26 PM MST, 1 hour 34 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY 226 PM MDT SAT AUG 18 2001 SAT IMAGERY SHOWING SHORTWAVE TREKKING ACROSS WYOMING THIS AFTERNOON. CU FORMING OVER WESTERN WYOMING. THE ONLY THUNDERSTORMS ARE JUST SOUTH OF BORDER NEAR FLAMING GORGE AND TO THE NORTH OF YELLOWSTONE AND ABSAROKAS. TEMPS MAINLY IN THE 80S...EXCEPT FOR LOW 90S IN BIG HORN BASIN AND JOHNSON COUNTY. MODEL LI/S BEST OVER WESTERN AND SOUTHWESTERN WYOMING THIS EVENING. WILL LEAVE ISOLATED POPS THERE. A WEAK COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH WYOMING FROM THE NORTHWEST LATE TONIGHT...BUT GETS CAUGHT FROM AN ARCH FROM EVANSTON TO TOGWOTEE THEN TO BUFFALO AND ON EAST. THIS WILL BRING IN SLIGHTLY COOLER AIR FOR SUNDAY TO AREAS BEHIND THE FRONT. AN AREA OF CHANNELED VORTICITY IN THE WESTERLY FLOW ENTERS WESTERN WYOMING SUNDAY MORNING AND SPREADS EAST ACROSS THE NORTH THROUGH THE DAY. LOOKS LIKE THE BEST CHANCE FOR CONVECTION TO BE NORTHWEST MOUNTAINS...SO WILL LEAVE THE ISOLD THUNDERSTORMS THERE. CLOUDS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE STATE WITH THE VORT AREA. GRADIENT DOESN/T LOOK SO IMPRESSIVE FOR TOMORROW SO WILL BACK DOWN BREEZY SOME AREAS. THE FRONT PROGRESSES THROUGH CASPER SUNDAY NIGHT AFTER BEING HUNG UP ALL DAY ACROSS SOUTHERN JOHNSON COUNTY. SOUTHWEST FLOW PICKS UP MONDAY WITH AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING OVER THE FOUR CORNERS LATE SUNDAY. THE MOVES OFF THE EAST MONDAY RESULTING IN A RETURN OF MONSOON...WHICH TRIES TO REACH EXTREME SOUTHERN WYOMING LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON. WILL ADD ISOLD THUNDERSTORMS TO RKS ZONE LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING PERIODS. OTHER SOUTHERN ZONES WILL JUST ADD INCREASING AFTERNOON CLOUDS. IN THE EXTENDED...MONSOON COUNTIES THROUGH WEDNESDAY UNTIL A PAC TROF MOVES ON SHORE...BRINING ADDED CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. EXTENDED TEMPS DONT LOOK AS COOL AS THEY DID YESTERDAY...WILL ONLY MAKE MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO TEMPS FROM PREVIOUS PACKAGE. RIW...RED FLAG WARNING WESTERN...SOUTHERN ZONES AND NORTHERN MOUNTAINS. TWB
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Wildfire
- A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Wildfire in California, August 18 to 25, 2001
- Tornadoes and Hail in Illinois, August 18, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Indiana, August 18, 2001
- Flooding and Hail in Indiana, August 18, 2001
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in Indiana, August 18, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Florida, August 18, 2001
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in Florida, August 18, 2001
- Tornado in North Carolina, August 18, 2001
- Lightning Strike in South Carolina, August 18, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Florida, August 18, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Illinois, August 18, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Louisiana, August 18, 2001
More
Every storm in Wyoming in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5263399.