Wildfire in Wyoming, August 24 to 31, 2002

Name: Wildfire in Wyoming, August 24 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-08-24T15:00
End: 2002-08-31T23:59
Location: Wyoming

August 24 to 31, 2002 · NWS RIW · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The Pass Creek Wildfire was started by lightning. The fire burned 13,000 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

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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 RIW wrote it up.

The Pass Creek Wildfire was started by lightning. The fire burned 13,000 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 Riverton, WY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 24, 12:15 PM MST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 24, 12:15 PM MST, 2 hours 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY
115 PM MDT SAT AUG 24 2002

THE 18Z SFC CHART SHOW HIGH PRESSURE OVER WY AND WEAK LOW PRESSURE
OVER SW N DAK.  A RIDGE CAN BE SEEN ON WATER VAPOR IMAGERY MOVING
EAST INTO WY. THE UPPER LOW OVER OR WAS SHIFTING NORTHWEST. VIS SAT
INDICATING LOTS OF CU DEVELOPMENT OVER THE MTNS BUT LITTLE VERTICAL
GROWTH. A FEW CBS WERE GETTING ENTRAINED IN DRY AIR OVER THE SW. THE
BEST DEVELOPMENT APPEARED TO BE NORTH OF THE OWL CREEK MTNS.

MAIN PROBLEMS THIS FCST PACKAGE ARE POPS FOR TONIGHT AND NEXT TUE.
THE RIDGE CONTINUES TO BUILD INTO THE FA TONIGHT. HOWEVER...THE NRN
FA REMAINS IN AN AREA OF HIGHER DEWPOINTS...INSTABILITY AND CAPE.
THE UPPER LOW IS GETTING STRETCHED OUT AS THE RIDGE BUILDS IN. A
SHORTWAVE OVER THE NORTH MAY PROVIDE ENOUGH LIFT FOR SOME EVENING
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NORTH AND EAST. SATELLITE AND
RADAR WILL NEED TO MONITORED PRIOR TO ISSUANCE. ELSEWHERE ACROSS THE
FA...SUBSIDENCE AND DRYING APPEARS TO BE TAKING OVER...BASED ON VIS
SAT AND WATER VAPOR. RIDGE BRINGS DRY WX TO THE FA ON MON. ON
TUESDAY...AN UPPER LOW MOVES INTO NRN NV WITH SW FLOW AND ENERGY
MOVING ACROSS THE FA. CURRENT FCST OF SCT -RW/-TSRA LOOKS GOOD. H7
TEMPS INDICATE LITTLE CHANGE IN TEMPS UNTIL TUE WHEN H7 TEMPS COOL
ABOUT 5 DEGREES.

IN THE EXTENDED...CURRENT EXTENDED LOOKS ON TRACK EXCEPT THE MRF
BRINGS A RIDGE INTO THE AREA ON FRI/SAT SO WILL MAKE THE FCST DRY
WITH WARMING TEMPS.

.RIW...NONE.

FS

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Fremont

When: August 24, 3:00 PM MST to August 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Fremont County, 18 mi S of Lander
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE
Coordinates: 43.041, -108.630 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

Every storm in Wyoming in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Wyoming, August 2002

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: 5314331.