Wildfire, Sublette
- When
- July 13, 12:00 AM MST to July 26, 12:00 AM MST
- Where
- Sublette County, 12 mi W of Daniel
- Reported by
- PARK/FOREST SERVICE
- Coordinates
- 42.767, -109.915 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Wyoming, July 13 to 26, 2002
The Mule Wildfire was started by lightning. The fire burned 3,932 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 Mule Wildfire was started by lightning. The fire burned 3,932 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 Jul 12, 1:44 PM MST, 10 hours 16 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 12, 1:44 PM MST, 10 hours 16 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY 244 PM MDT FRI JUL 12 2002 HOW MANY WAYS CAN ONE DISCUSS HOT AND DRY? THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE CONTINUES TO AMPLIFY OVER THE IDAHO/UTAH AREA THIS AFTERNOON AS SHOWN BY THE SATELLITE WV LOOPS. WITH NO AVAILABLE MOISTURE...CLEAR DRY CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL AT LEAST THROUGH MONDAY...MARRED ONLY BY SMOKE FROM WILDFIRES IN YNP AND THE EASTERN WIND RIVER RANGE. LOW LEVEL NE WINDS BACKED TO THE N OVERNIGHT AND UPPER LEVEL N WINDS WERE ABNORMALLY LIGHT ON THE 12Z SOUNDING AS THE RIDGE CONTINUES TO BUILD. SOME RECORD HIGH TEMPS WILL LIKELY BE SET TODAY AND TOMORROW DUE TO SUBSIDENCE AND ABUNDANT SOLAR HEATING. THE ONLY WINDS WILL OCCUR IN THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING MAINLY NEAR THE SLOPES OF MOUNTAIN RANGES AS NEIGHBORING BASINS HEAT UP. DO NOT PUT MUCH STOCK IN THIS STRONG RIDGE FLATTENING IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD AS SHOWN BY THE MODELS...BUT WILL MAINTAIN THE EXISTING SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NW AND N MOUNTAIN ZONES FOR FURTHER ANALYSIS. RIW...NONE. CF
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
- Damaging Winds in Montana, July 13, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Idaho, July 13, 2002
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in Arizona, July 13, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, July 13, 2002
- Flash Flood and Hail in Texas, July 13 to 14, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Colorado, July 13, 2002
- Rip Current in Alabama, July 13, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Nevada, July 13, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Texas, July 13, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, July 13 to 14, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, July 13, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Idaho, July 13, 2002
More
Every storm in Wyoming in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, July 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: 5303371.