Lightning Strike in Wyoming, August 4 to 7, 2001

Name: Lightning Strike in Wyoming, August 4 to 7, 2001
Start: 2001-08-04T10:47
End: 2001-08-07T23:59
Location: Wyoming

August 4 to 7, 2001 · NWS UNR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

During the 3 day period from the 4th through the 7th, lightning started 12 fires across Campbell County. Most of the fires burned between 1/2 and 5 acres, burning a total of 30 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

Open the live radar over this ground

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.

During the 3 day period from the 4th through the 7th, lightning started 12 fires across Campbell County. Most of the fires burned between 1/2 and 5 acres, burning a total of 30 acres.

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 Aug 4, 10:12 AM MST, 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 4, 10:12 AM MST, 35 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR WESTERN SD AND NORTHEASTERN WY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
1112 AM MDT SAT AUG 4 2001

CURRENT SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS LOW OVER NE MT WITH LEE TROF
EXTENDING SE ALONG SD/WY BORDER AND COLD FRONT ACROSS N MT. LEE TROF
TO MOVE SLOWLY EAST THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS W SD. CAP IN PLACE ACROSS
MUCH OF CWA NOW. WILL LEAVE SLIGHT POPS IN FOR AFT AND EVE WITH LEE
TROF CROSSING AREA AND WEAK VORT MOVING THRU NORTHERN CWA.

FOR ZONES...DROPPED TEMPS A NOTCH ACROSS NE WY AND THE HILLS...WHERE
SOME MID AND HI CLOUDS ARE SLOWLY MOVING IN AND TEMPS NOT QUITE AS
WARM AS THIS TIME YESTERDAY. ALSO DROPPED TEMPS IN SC SD...WHERE
HIGHER DEWPOINTS WILL LIKELY^ KEEP TEMPS A BIT LOWER THAN EXPECTED.
ALSO MADE MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO WINDS FOR AFT.

.UNR...FIRE WEATHER WATCH NERN WY AND BLKHLS SAT.

ST

The radar

The Rapid City radar (KUDX), 217 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:51 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Campbell

When: August 4, 10:47 AM MST to August 7, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Campbell County, Wright
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 44.248, -105.548 (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: 5265958.