Wildfire, Park
- When
- July 7, 12:00 AM MST to July 26, 6:00 PM MST
- Where
- Park County, 50 mi NW of Wapiti
- Reported by
- PARK/FOREST SERVICE
- Coordinates
- 44.521, -109.588 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Wyoming, July 7 to 26, 2002
The Broad Wildfire was started by lightning. The fire burned 9,140 acres in Yellowstone National Park, 20 miles southeast of Mammoth.
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 Broad Wildfire was started by lightning. The fire burned 9,140 acres in Yellowstone National Park, 20 miles southeast of Mammoth.
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 6, 1:33 PM MST, 10 hours 27 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 6, 1:33 PM MST, 10 hours 27 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY 233 PM MDT SAT JUL 6 2002 TAIL END OF IDAHO/WESTERN MONTANA SHORTWAVE RIDING IN ON 60KT H2 JET THIS AFTERNOON PROVIDING SOME LIFT ACROSS NWRN CORNER OF THE STATE. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE STILL IN PLACE ACROSS MOST OF OUR NORTHCENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ZONES WHERE POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED STRONG STORMS WILL PERSIST THIS EVENING. WIND RIVER BASIN ON SOUTHERN EDGE OF SHORTWAVE AND WITH MOISTURE GRADUALLY ERODING...WE WILL BE HARD PRESSED TO SEE MUCH ACTION THIS EVENING OUTSIDE OF SOME WIND. ISOLATED STORMS SHOULD STILL ROLL ACROSS FREMONT COUNTY THOUGH WITH A LITTLE MORE ACTION POSSIBLE IN THE WIND RIVERS...ESPECIALLY NORTHERN PORTION. PACNW TROUGH THEN APPROACHES MONDAY WITH DEVELOPING SURFACE LOW OVER SOUTHERN MONTANA. WINDS SHOULD INCREASE IN MOST AREAS TOMORROW AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING. COLD FRONT SHOULD SWEEP ACROSS THE NORTHERN ZONES TOMORROW EVENING AND INTO CENTRAL WYOMING OVERNIGHT...SHIFTING WINDS TO THE NORTH OR NORTHEAST. A FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS POSTED FOR ALL OFF SOUTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL WYOMING TOMORROW AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS MUCH DRIER AND BREEZY TO LOCALLY WINDY CONDITIONS DEVELOP. DRIER MORE STABLE ARE BEHIND THE COLD FRONT WILL GENERALLY CAP CONVECTION ON TUESDAY. ON WEDNESDAY...SOME MOISTURE MAY TRY AND POOL EAST OF THE DIVIDE BUT IT STILL APPEARS CONVECTION WILL BE LIMITED...IF IT OCCURS AT ALL. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IS ALL IM COMFORTABLE WITH FOR WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. UPPER RIDGE CONTINUES BUILDING OVER NEVADA DURING THE WEEK AND SEE LITTLE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY OR FRIDAY. ONLY EXCEPTION MAY BE ACROSS THE FAR NORTH AS PASSING SOUTHERN CANADA SHORTWAVE PUSHES ANOTHER COLD FRONT SOUTHWARD LATE IN THE DAY. THIS COULD SET THE STAGE FOR MORE SIGNIFICANT CONVECTION IN DEVELOPING MOIST NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT NEXT WEEKEND. SURFACE HIGH PUSHES INTO MONTANA WITH MOIST SOUTHEAST SURFACE FLOW AND GOOD DIRECTIONAL SHEAR FOR POTENTIAL HAIL PRODUCING STORMS. ITS STILL A LONG WAY OFF BUT WORTH KEEPING CHANCE POPS FOR DAYS 6 AND 7. .RIW...NONE. SKRBAC
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
- Heat in Illinois, July 7 to 8, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Idaho, July 7, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Washington, July 7, 2002
- Flash Flood in Minnesota, July 7 to 8, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, July 7, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Washington, July 7, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Louisiana, July 7, 2002
- Tornado and Hail in Minnesota, July 7, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 7, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Minnesota, July 7 to 9, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Washington, July 7, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Oregon, July 7, 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: 5303369.