A man burning trash 5 miles south of Jackson ignited a wildfire on Saturday, September 8, that rapidly spread to the north and northeast toward Jackson. The fire came within 1 mile of Snow King Ski Area and Resort on September 9.
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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.
A man burning trash 5 miles south of Jackson ignited a wildfire on Saturday, September 8, that rapidly spread to the north and northeast toward Jackson. The fire came within 1 mile of Snow King Ski Area and Resort on September 9. The fire closed several recreational trails to the south of Jackson. Spread of the fire was slowed significantly by September 13 when all evacuation orders were lifted. Almost full containment was reported by September 18. The fire burned 3,373 acres and also burned one county fire engine. The cost to fight the fire was estimated at almost $9 million.
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 Sep 8, 2:00 PM MST, 0 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY 300 PM MDT SAT SEP 8 2012 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY CURRENT RIDGE ALOFT OVER WYOMING WILL FLATTEN BEGINNING SUNDAY. THIS WILL ALLOW MOISTURE TO ADVECT INTO WYOMING LATE SUNDAY INTO MONDAY. BEFORE ALL THIS HAPPENS...IT WILL BE CLEAR AND WARM THROUGH SUNDAY. TEMPERATURES EAST OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE SHOULD APPROACH 90 SUNDAY AFTERNOON. SUNDAY NIGHT TEMPS ALSO TO REMAIN WARM ACROSS THE REGION. AFOREMENTIONED MOISTURE SHOULD BRING SCT-BKN CLOUDS BY SUNDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUE INTO MONDAY. MOST OF THIS EXPECTED TO BE MID LEVEL...BUT WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP BY MONDAY AFTERNOON WITH POSSIBLY GREATER COVERAGE OVER FAR WEST AND SOUTHWEST PARTS OF FORECAST AREA. ATTENTION THEN TURNS TO NORTHERN STREAM TROUGH AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT PUSHING ACROSS WEST CENTRAL WYOMING MONDAY NIGHT. THE TROUGH WILL PUSH ANY LOW AND MID LEVEL MOISTURE MAINLY TO OUR EAST AND SOUTH ON TUESDAY. CENTRAL AND NORTHERN LOCATIONS WILL CLEAR AND BE QUITE COOL BEHIND THE FRONT. THE ONLY EXCEPTION LOOKS TO BE FAR SOUTH...SWEETWATER COUNTY...WHERE MODELS DO HOLD ON TO SOME RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND CLOUDS MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY. HOWEVER...BEST MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION CHANCES TO BE OVER COLORADO ON TUESDAY. RED FLAG WARNING WILL BE IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF FORECAST AREA BEGINNING SUNDAY AFTERNOON DUE TO WIND AND VERY LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY. .LONG TERM...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY TUESDAY NIGHT...ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS EXTREME SOUTHERN WYOMING. WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...COOLER TEMPERATURES ANTICIPATED WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING...WITH GENERALLY DRY CONDITIONS. FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...WARMING TEMPERATURES WITH CONTINUED DRY CONDITIONS. MODELS IN FAIR AGREEMENT WITH THIS TIME FRAME. OUT OF THE MAIN MODELS...THE GFS IS THE PRIMARY MODEL DEMONSTRATING THE SHOWER ACTIVITY ACROSS THE SOUTHERN REACHES OF THE FORECAST AREA...THOUGH THE EURO STILL INDICATES THE PRECIPITATION WILL GENERALLY STAY SOUTH OF THE AREA...THOUGH WITHIN VERY CLOSE PROXIMITY OF THE BORDER. WITH THE OPPORTUNITY PRESENT ITSELF...HAVE INCLUDED THESE WEAK SHOWERS FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT. HIGH PRESSURE THEN GENERALLY EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE AREA WITH DRY CONDITIONS. A STRONG AREA OF LOW PRESSURE MOVING ACROSS SOUTHERN CANADA WILL SEND A SURGE OF COLDER TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE AREA WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...ESPECIALLY IMPACTING WEDNESDAY NIGHT VALUES. THE EFFECTS OF THIS SYSTEM WILL BE PRESENT THROUGH THURSDAY...WITH REBOUNDING TEMPERATURES EXPECTED FRIDAY. && .AVIATION.../00Z ISSUANCE/ VFR CONDITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH A HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON. LIGHT WIND OVERNIGHT MAY PERMIT SMOKE TO SETTLE INTO THE BASINS...CREATING PERIODS OF MVFR CONDITIONS. A DISTURBANCE WILL BEGIN TO MOVE INTO WESTERN WYOMING SUNDAY AFTERNOON...WHICH MAY BRING SOME ISOLATED MOUNTAIN SHOWERS DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON HOURS...WITH ASSOCIATED VCSH AT NEARBY TERMINALS. MOST SHOWER ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN OUT OF THE BASINS UNTIL AFTER 00Z MONDAY. && .FIRE WEATHER... FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS WILL MAINLY OCCUR ON SUNDAY ACROSS WEST CENTRAL WYOMING. INCREASING SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL RESULT IN BREEZY CONDITIONS BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON. THE TRANSITIONING PATTERN AND WIND FLOW WILL ALSO BRING LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. MOST OF THE REGION WILL SEE HUMIDITIES DROP BELOW 15 PERCENT. WEATHER WILL REMAIN DRY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW AND DAYTIME HEATING ON MONDAY WILL AT LEAST PRODUCE WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...SPREADING ACROSS THE SOUTH AND POTENTIALLY EAST DURING THE AFTERNOON. THERE COULD BE SOME DRY LIGHTNING ASSOCIATED WITH THIS DEVELOPMENT...ESPECIALLY OVER THE RAWLINS DISPATCH AREA AND POSSIBLY MOVING INTO THE WIND RIVER MOUNTAINS. RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WILL ACTUALLY BE ON THE RISE MONDAY INTO MONDAY NIGHT WITH AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT. && .RIW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...RED FLAG WARNING FROM NOON TO 9 PM MDT SUNDAY WYZ279-280-288-289-300-416. && SHORT TERM...KPL LONG TERM...BRANHAM AVIATION...BRANHAM FIRE WEATHER...KPL
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY 613 AM MDT SAT SEP 8 2012 WYZ001>020-022>030-091200- 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- 613 AM MDT SAT SEP 8 2012 ...FIRE WEATHER WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL WYOMING SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY SUNDAY...CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER DAY POSSIBLE FROM JEFFREY CITY TO CASPER WITH ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS IN MOST OTHER AREAS. MONDAY...ISOLATED TO LOCALLY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ESPECIALLY ALONG AND WEST OF THE DIVIDE. ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE...MAINLY IN THE NORTHWEST. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY AND TONIGHT. TEAM RIVERTON
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wyoming in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, September 2012
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: 411819.