Lightning caused the ignition of the Outlaw 2 wildfire approximately 20 miles southwest of Kaycee on Tuesday, August 22. The fire occurred near a famed area called Hole-in-the-Wall.
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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.
The episode as NWS RIW wrote it up.
Lightning caused the ignition of the Outlaw 2 wildfire approximately 20 miles southwest of Kaycee on Tuesday, August 22. The fire occurred near a famed area called Hole-in-the-Wall. The fire spread rapidly on Wednesday, August 23, growing from an estimated 300 acres on Tuesday to approximately 10,000 acres by midday Thursday, August 24. An estimated 12,270 acres were destroyed by the fire. One outbuilding and a restored historic cabin dating to early Wyoming history in the 19th century were consumed by the fire. The cost of the firefighting efforts reached $800,000.
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 22, 1:47 AM MST, 10 hours 13 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY 247 AM MDT TUE AUG 22 2006 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT JUST A FEW CLOUDS MOVING ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA THIS MORNING AS HIGH PRESSURE STARTS TO DOMINATE THE WEATHER OVER THE COWBOY STATE. MODELS CONTINUE WITH A DRY TREND OVER THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. STILL SEE ISOLATED ACTIVITY POSSIBLE ACROSS THE NORTHERN AND EXTREME SOUTHERN ZONES AS SOUTHWEST FLOW INCREASES OVER THE STATE. WILL BE BREEZY OVER THE WIND PRONE AREAS THIS AFTERNOON. THIS WILL INCREASE THE FIRE DANGER OVER THESE AREAS. AT THIS TIME CURRENT GUIDANCE STILL IN AGREEMENT WITH ITS LAST RUN OF KEEPING WINDS JUST BELOW WARNING CRITERIA TODAY. RH VALUES WILL STILL BE LOW AND SOME AREAS MAY GET ISOLATED WARNING CRITERIA...SO NEXT SHIFT WILL NEED TO WATCH THIS AS THE DAY UNFOLDS. TEMPERATURES TO BE THE WARMEST OF THE WEEK AS 700MB AT 16C OVER OUR FORECAST AREA. THIS TRANSLATES TO MID TO UPPER 90S EAST OF THE DIVIDE AND MID TO UPPER 80S ACROSS THE LOWEST ELEVATIONS IN THE WEST. TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE THAT IS NOW OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WILL HEAD EAST WEDNESDAY WHICH WILL INCREASE SOUTHWEST FLOW AGAIN FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF BREEZY CONDITIONS OVER THE WIND PRONE AREAS. WILL NOT ISSUE WATCH FOR THIS AS WIND SPEEDS STILL JUST BELOW WARNING VALUES. DURING THE EVENING TROUGH WORKS ITS WAY EAST AND BRINGS A FRONT ACROSS THE NORTHERN ZONES. THIS TO KEEP ISOLATED CONVECTION OVER THE AREA DURING THIS PERIOD AND CONTINUE IT INTO THURSDAY. FRONT TO COOL THINGS DOWN A FEW DEGREES WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY WITH MUCH COOLER HIGHS OVER THE STATE BY FRIDAY. .LONG TERM...FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY MEDIUM RANGE GUIDANCE IS IN GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH THE EXTENDED PERIOD. A VIGOROUS SHORTWAVE WILL BE ON OUR DOORSTEP AT THE BEGINNING OF THE EXTENDED PERIOD. THIS SHORTWAVE WILL DIVE SOUTHEAST DRAGGING A STRONG COLD FRONT THROUGH THE CWFA DURING THE DAY ON FRIDAY. EXPECT LATE MORNING HIGH TEMPERATURES WITH GENERAL COOLING FROM NORTH TO SOUTH DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS IN COLD AIR ADVECTION BEHIND THE FRONT. MODELS CONTINUE TO HANG ON TO A SLIGHTLY DRIER AIR MASS PREFRONTAL...WITH BETTER DEWPOINTS BEHIND FRONT. NONETHELESS ANTICIPATE AT LEAST ISOLATED CONVECTION FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING WITH THE FROPA. AREAS EAST OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE WILL HAVE THE BEST CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION FROM THIS SYSTEM. DRIER AIR WILL BE IN PLACE ACROSS WESTERN ZONES TO PREVENT SIGNIFICANT CONVECTIVE INITIATION. NORTHWEST FLOW TAKES OVER BEHIND THE DEPARTING SHORTWAVE...USHERING IN COOLER AIR THROUGHOUT THE LAYER. TEMPERATURES ON SATURDAY WILL BE VERY PLEASANT...WITH UPPER 70S TO LOWS 80S ANTICIPATED. NORTHWEST FLOW WILL MAINTAIN ACROSS THE CWFA THROUGH MONDAY...WITH THE UPPER RIDGE CONFINED TO THE SOUTHWEST OF THE STATE. OTHER THAN SOME MONSOONAL MOISTURE WORKING NORTH TOWARDS THE UINTA MOUNTAINS...DO NOT EXPECT ANY SIGNIFICANT PRECIP CHANCES THROUGH TUESDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL REBOUND BACK INTO THE MID 80S SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. && RIW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && SHORT TERM...HRD LONG TERM...HAHN
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY 500 AM MDT TUE AUG 22 2006 WYZ001>020-022>030-231100- ABSAROKA MOUNTAINS-BIGHORN MOUNTAINS SOUTHEAST- BIGHORN MOUNTAINS WEST-CASPER MOUNTAIN-CODY FOOTHILLS- EAST SWEETWATER COUNTY-FLAMING GORGE- GREEN MOUNTAINS AND RATTLESNAKE RANGE-JACKSON HOLE-LANDER FOOTHILLS- NATRONA COUNTY LOWER ELEVATIONS-NORTH BIG HORN BASIN- NORTHEAST JOHNSON COUNTY-OWL CREEK AND BRIDGER MOUNTAINS- ROCK SPRINGS AND GREEN RIVER-SALT RIVER AND WYOMING RANGES- SOUTH LINCOLN COUNTY-SOUTHEAST BIG HORN BASIN- SOUTHEAST JOHNSON COUNTY-SOUTHWEST BIG HORN BASIN-STAR VALLEY- TETON AND GROS VENTRE MOUNTAINS-UPPER GREEN RIVER BASIN- UPPER GREEN RIVER BASIN FOOTHILLS-UPPER WIND RIVER BASIN- WIND RIVER BASIN-WIND RIVER MOUNTAINS EAST-WIND RIVER MOUNTAINS WEST- YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK- 500 AM MDT TUE AUG 22 2006 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE NORTHERN AND EXTREME SOUTHERN PART OF THE STATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE MAIN THREAT WITH THESE STORMS WILL BE WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH AND DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. NEW FIRES WILL BE POSSIBLE AS FUEL CONDITIONS REMAIN RIPE FOR FIRE STARTS FROM LIGHTNING STRIKES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUES WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY ACROSS THE NORTHERN PART OF THE STATE. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND GUSTY WINDS. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE ACROSS AREAS MAINLY EAST OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE ON FRIDAY...PRODUCING SIMILAR THREATS. SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ACROSS WESTERN AND CENTRAL WYOMING ARE ASKED TO REPORT WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH TODAY. THANK YOU. TRIW
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wyoming in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, August 2006
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: 5529575, 5529576.