The House Draw fire was sparked by by a lightning strike on the afternoon of August 21. Wind gusting to 40 mph spread the fire rapidly to the north and south of the ignition point, eventually consuming around 175000 acres before being mostly contained by August 30.
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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.
The House Draw fire was sparked by by a lightning strike on the afternoon of August 21. Wind gusting to 40 mph spread the fire rapidly to the north and south of the ignition point, eventually consuming around 175000 acres before being mostly contained by August 30. At the height of the fire, Interstate 90 was closed for several hours to the east of Buffalo. Although no homes were lost in the fire, damage was extensive to ranch infrastructure with around 600 miles of fence burned along with the loss of storage and water tanks, outbuildings, feed., and equipment. Losses on private land alone were estimated by an unnamed source in the Green River Star local newspaper to be 25 million dollars, not including losses to public land and highway infrastructure. Have included this number as a preliminary damage cost estimate.
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 21, 11:55 AM MST, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Riverton WY 1255 PM MDT Wed Aug 21 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Hot, dry, and windy across much of the area have created red flag fire weather conditions into the early evening hours. - Elevated fire weather conditions will continue Thursday as winds will be less and humidities will increase in the afternoon along with isolated thunderstorms. - Winds will increase again Friday, but so will precipitation chances, especially across western WY. - Winds increase from the southwest Saturday in advance of a cold front Saturday night into Sunday morning. The precipitation trend is decrease, but temperatures should drop to below normal in the 70s. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 1255 PM MDT Wed Aug 21 2024 Some showers and thunderstorms developed early this morning on the west side of the Wind River Mountains, and moved northeast into the Wind River Basin and all the way to the Buffalo area around 1000AM. Behind this small-scale system, south-southwest winds increased by late morning and temperatures rose quickly. With the strong winds of 20-25 mph and gusts 35-40 mph, elevated to critical fire weather conditions will continue through around sunset. Low humidity values will get to 15 percent or lower, with some marginal areas only getting to 15-10 percent. Showers and thunderstorms have already develop across Sweetwater County into southern Fremont County after noon. The storms today will move to the northeast and mostly generate even more gusty outflow winds of 45-55 mph. Isolated storms are also possible this afternoon across the WY/MT border and should shift the winds to northerly in the northern Bighorn Basin, with the Buffalo area seeing northwest winds during the evening hours. Weak ridging will develop over the forecast area Thursday morning as a shortwave trough moves from the Four Corners area north-northeastward toward southern Wyoming. Thus, winds should be more southerly Thursday but not as strong as Wednesday. Moisture will increase during the afternoon increasing cloud cover from the south, and bringing isolated showers and thunderstorms to parts of southern and western WY. Light showers are likely to continue into the evening hours. A deep cold trough moves into the Pacific Northwest Thursday into Friday, increasing the southerly upper-level flow over the Great Basin. This pattern will continue to bring moisture and strong flow into Wyoming on Friday. So as winds increase again, humidities increase as well, Showers and thunderstorms will be more widespread, but appear to favor western WY over other areas. Breezy southerly flow with partly cloudy skies should continue overnight for most areas into Saturday morning. The strong trough to the west moves eastward into the western Great Basin on Saturday, continue a strong gradient for south- southwest surface winds by late morning over the forecast area. Isolated thunderstorms are expected during the afternoon as clouds increase from the west. The latest model guidance is showing the cold core of the trough move northward more quickly into western Montana. A cold front is thus expected into northwest WY late Saturday night, but chances of precipitation have reduced drastically. Temperatures are trending warmer, and thus decreasing chances for high elevation snow in Yellowstone on Sunday. Temperatures across the forecast area however will drop to below normal on Sunday as the trough passes through Montana. West winds will gusts to 20-30 mph with isolated showers across the northern half of the area. Mild conditions are expected behind the system on Monday with dry west winds. Drier southwest winds move back in Tuesday for elevated for weather conditions. Medium-range models are showing a trough dropping into Montana next Wednesday to bringing cooler air and some precipitation to northern WY. But there is huge uncertainty after that for the end of next week. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z THURSDAY/... Issued at 1127 AM MDT Wed Aug 21 2024 VFR conditions expected to prevail through the 18Z TAF period with gusty winds 25 to 35 knots through 00-03Z being the primary concern across all TAF sites. In addition, there is a chance for showers and thunderstorms this afternoon near KCPR and KRKS, but confidence is low to medium in direct terminal impacts. Thunderstorms most likely between 19Z and 00Z. Please see the Aviation Weather Center and/or CWSU ZDV and ZLC for the latest information on smoke, icing, and turbulence forecasts. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 1223 PM MDT Wed Aug 21 2024 Elevated to critical fire weather conditions continue this afternoon into the early evening hours. Afternoon RHs will drop to 10% to 15% for much of the area. Red Flag Warnings are in effect for a majority of the area from noon to 8PM MDT today. RH values will be marginal across zones 279 and 289 where increased moisture is helping showers and thunderstorms to develop. A few areas may be in the 12-15% range though. Gusty winds and thunderstorm chances in these two zones will still create possible erratic fire behavior. RHs begin to recover late this evening, with winds decreasing after sunset. For Thursday, afternoon winds would be less, limiting the fire weather concerns. However, low RHs still occur for some areas, especially from the Upper Green River Basin into the Wind River and Bighorn Basins. && .RIW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Red Flag Warning until 8 PM MDT this evening for WYZ275>283- 285-287-289-414. && DISCUSSION...McDonald AVIATION...Gross FIRE WEATHER...McDonald
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Riverton WY 153 AM MDT Wed Aug 21 2024 WYZ001>020-022>030-221300- Yellowstone National Park-Absaroka Mountains-Cody Foothills- North Bighorn Basin-Southwest Bighorn Basin-Southeast Bighorn Basin- Owl Creek and Bridger Mountains-Bighorn Mountains West- Bighorn Mountains Southeast-Northeast Johnson County- Southeast Johnson County-Teton and Gros Ventre Mountains- Jackson Hole-Wind River Mountains West-Wind River Mountains East- Upper Wind River Basin-Wind River Basin-Lander Foothills- Green Mountains and Rattlesnake Range- Natrona County Lower Elevations-Casper Mountain-Star Valley- Salt River and Wyoming Ranges-Upper Green River Basin Foothills- Upper Green River Basin-South Lincoln County- Rock Springs and Green River-Flaming Gorge-East Sweetwater County- 153 AM MDT Wed Aug 21 2024 ...Red Flag Warning for a majority of central and western Wyoming this afternoon... This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for Western and Central Wyoming. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. Elevated to critical fire weather this afternoon for portions of central and western Wyoming. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday. Thursday...Elevated fire weather conditions possible. Saturday and Sunday...A strong cold front brings much cooler and wetter weather for the weekend. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Weather spotters are encouraged to report significant weather conditions according to Standard Operating Procedures.
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Riverton WY
331 PM MDT Wed Aug 21 2024
WYZ009-019-020-212215-
Bighorn Mountains Southeast-Green Mountains and Rattlesnake
Range-Natrona County Lower Elevations-
331 PM MDT Wed Aug 21 2024
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL IMPACT CENTRAL NATRONA COUNTY THROUGH
415 PM MDT...
At 331 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 7
miles southwest of Powder River, which is 36 miles west of Casper,
moving northeast at 55 mph.
HAZARD...Wind gusts of 50 to 55 mph.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects.
This strong thunderstorm will be near...
Goldeneye Reservoir around 350 PM MDT.
This includes Interstate 25 between mile markers 192 and 213.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.
To report severe weather, contact your nearest law enforcement
agency. They will relay your report to the National Weather Service
office in Riverton.
&&
LAT...LON 4298 10608 4266 10708 4295 10750 4304 10750
4349 10678 4349 10671
TIME...MOT...LOC 2131Z 240DEG 48KT 4293 10705
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.00 IN
MAX WIND GUST...55 MPH
LoweThe 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 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, August 2024
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: 1212149, 1212150.