Wildfire in Wyoming, July 26 to 31, 2002

Name: Wildfire in Wyoming, July 26 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-07-26T12:00
End: 2002-07-31T18:00
Location: Wyoming

July 26 to 31, 2002 · NWS RIW · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The Pepper Wildfire was started by lightning. The fire burned 1,027 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 RIW wrote it up.

The Pepper Wildfire was started by lightning. The fire burned 1,027 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 26, 12:49 AM MST, 11 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 26, 12:49 AM MST, 11 hours 11 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY
149 AM MDT FRI JUL 26 2002

SATELLITE SHOWS THE NEXT SHORTWAVE ROUNDING THE BASE OF THE UPPER
TROF. EXPECT THIS SHORTWAVE TO BRING CONVECTION TO THE NORTHWESTERN
PART OF THE STATE AROUND 18Z. MOST OF THE CONVECTION WILL BE IN
THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE STATE...WITH ISOLATED POPS IN THE
SOUTH. TEMPS TODAY SHOULD BE A LITTLE WARMER THAN THURSDAY AS THE
700 MB TEMPS BEGIN TO RECOVER. HOWEVER...FWC AND MAV GUIDANCE SEEM
A LITTLE WARM...THEREFORE WILL CUT THE TEMPS SLIGHTLY.

EXPECT CONVECTION SATURDAY AFTERNOON MAINLY FROM DAYTIME HEATING AND
CONTINUING OVERNIGHT AS THE MAIN TROUGH BEGINS TO MOVE THROUGH THE
CWA. THEREFORE WILL INCREASE POPS SATURDAY NIGHT FROM PREVIOUS
FORECAST. TEMPS SATURDAY/SUNDAY AND POPS ON SUNDAY BOTH LOOK GOOD...
THEREFORE NO CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS FORECAST.

UPPER RIDGING BUILDS FROM THE WEST ON MONDAY AND CUTS OFF THE FLOW OF
SOUTHWESTERLY MOISTURE...RESULTING IN A MUCH DRIER CONDITIONS NEXT
WEEK. WILL SEE A GRADUAL WARMING NEXT WEEK...ALONG WITH LOWER
RELATIVE HUMIDITIES.

.RIW...NONE.

MLC

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, Sweetwater

When: July 26, 12:00 PM MST to July 31, 6:00 PM MST
Where: Sweetwater County, 27 mi S of Rock Spgs
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE
Coordinates: 41.660, -108.879 (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, 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: 5303370.