Wildfire, Natrona
- When
- July 30, 7:30 PM MST to July 31, 6:00 PM MST
- Where
- Natrona County, 8 mi E of Casper
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 42.962, -106.798 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Wyoming, July 30 to 31, 2001
The Cole Creek Fire was started by lightning. The fire burned approximately 1,300 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 Cole Creek Fire was started by lightning. The fire burned approximately 1,300 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 Jul 30, 1:50 PM MST, 5 hours 40 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 30, 1:50 PM MST, 5 hours 40 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY 250 PM MDT MON JUL 30 2001 UPPER TROF DIGGING INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA WITH CORRESPONDING BUILDING OF THE UPPER RIDGE OVER WYOMING. THIS WELL-EVIDENCED ON WATER VAPOR IMAGERY WHERE DEEP MOISTURE PLUME ASSOCIATED WITH STRONG ELONGATED SHORTWAVE IS BEING PUSHED BACK NORTH AND WEST. THIS RIDGE BUILDING ALLOWING THE PERIPHERY OF MONSOONAL MOISTURE TO INCH CLOSER TO SWEETWATER COUNTY. COULD PERHAPS SEE A STRAY SHOWER OR STORM CREEP INTO THE SOUTH THIS EVENING...BUT CANNOT FIND MUCH IN THE WAY OF LIFT TO ENHANCE THE DEEPER MOISTURE COMING UP TO PRODUCE THAT WOULD BE SIGNIFICANT. MORNING MODELS IN DECENT AGREEMENT AS TO EVOLUTION OF THINGS NEXT 24 HOURS OR SO. TROF EXPECTED TO BUMP INTO THE RIDGE AND WEAKEN IT SLIGHTLY WHILE RIDING UP AND OVER ACROSS MONTANA TONIGHT AND TOMORROW. MEANWHILE A SURFACE FRONT IS DRIVEN ACROSS THE NORTHERN PART OF THE AREA TONIGHT. JET CROSSES THE WEST AND NORTH BEGINNING LATER TONIGHT AND CONTINUING THRU TOMORROW. HOWEVER...BEST DYNAMICS WITH JET REMAIN OVER MONTANA WHERE THE 500 COLD POOL CROSSES...AS DOES THE LIONS SHARE OF THE MOISTURE. WHAT DYNAMICS THE JET DOES PROVIDE FARTHER SOUTH IN THE RRQ GETS WASTED IN DRY AIR. WIND BEHIND FRONT SHIFTS TO NORTH NORTHEAST LATER THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT...BUT QUICKLY BACKS TO WEST AGAIN TOMORROW AS SURFACE HIGH COMES IN FROM THE WEST AND GRADIENT TIGHTENS SUBSTANTIALLY. SO PERHAPS SOME SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE NORTHWEST AND NORTH TONIGHT...AND THAT APPEARS TO BE ABOUT IT. SOME HELP FOR THE NORTHWEST FIRES PERHAPS...BUT WITH FLOW QUICKLY BACKING TO WEST TOMORROW THE INCREASED DEWPOINTS OF TONIGHT WILL DROP QUICKLY AND WIND WILL PICK UP AGAIN. THEN APPEARS WE GO BACK TO A MAINLY DRY SCENARIO LIKE WE JUST HAD UNTIL THE WEEKEND...WHEN MODELS INDICATING ANOTHER POTENTIAL TROF PASSAGE AND MAYBE SOME MONSOONAL MOISTURE. WILL DO VERY LITTLE FOR EXTENDED AS IT SEEMS TO BE IN DECENT SHAPE WITH MAINLY DRY CONDITIONS EXPECTED EXCEPT FOR MAYBE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY WHEN SOME MOISTURE COULD GET IN. .RIW...NONE VALONE
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
- Flash Flood in North Carolina, July 30, 2001
- Flash Flood and Damaging Wind in Tennessee, July 30, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Minnesota, July 30, 2001
- Heat in Minnesota, July 30 to 31, 2001
- Damaging Wind in South Dakota, July 30, 2001
- Damaging Wind in South Dakota, July 30, 2001
- Hail in North Dakota, July 30, 2001
- Damaging Wind in New Mexico, July 30, 2001
- Dense Fog in Wisconsin, July 30, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Georgia, July 30, 2001
- Damaging Winds in South Dakota, July 30, 2001
- High Surf in Hawaii, July 30 to 31, 2001
More
Every storm in Wyoming in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, July 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: 5258158.