Ka-Boom! 600 Lightning Strikes Over Western Wyoming Monday Night

Residents from all over western Wyoming were treated to a celestial light show Monday night when a powerful electrical storm roared through the region emitting nearly 600 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes. 

The storm rumbled through the region beginning at about 9:30 p.m. and lasted for nearly an hour. The storm traveled northwest from Uinta County up the western border of the state into Park County.

The Wyoming Fire Map shows 18 active wildland fires are burning in the state, and none started Monday night. Several fires were reported but none were confirmed.

Wind, Rain Too

Alpine Fire District Chief Mike Vogt told Cowboy State Daily high winds blew down trees and broke a lot of branches there, but the storm also brought some rain and there were no new fire starts Monday night.

"Conditions are not quite there yet. Things are still kinda green," Vogt said. "We got some rain out of it, so it wasn't a dry lightning event."

Uinta County Fire District Chief Rustin Wagstaff advises residents to make sure they have defensible space around their homes. Don't stack firewood against homes, and clean rain gutters and roof valleys of debris. 

Red Flag Warning

The National Weather Service issue red flag warnings for most of Eastern Idaho on Monday. That means weather conditions and fuel moisture have reached a point where fire conditions are extremely high.

Noah Myers, meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Riverton, said the lightning storms’ highest density of strikes was over Lincoln County, then proceeded west over Sublette and Sweetwater counties.

Across the state and just beyond, more than 4,000 lightning strikes were recorded Monday, according to lightningmaps.org.

"With red flag warnings, the fuel, including grasses and trees need to be ready to burn," Myers said. "We don't have that in Wyoming yet, but we are getting to the point where it won't be too long before we start to issue red flag warnings."

Although no red flag warnings have been issued in Wyoming, stage 1 fire restrictions are in place for Goshen, Weston and Platte counties. That means open burning and fireworks are prohibited in unincorporated areas of these counties.

Teton Interagency Fire managers last week elevated the fire danger rating to high for Grand Teton National Park, the Bridger-Teton National Forest and the National Elk Refuge. 

A press release states visitors should not be deceived by how green and lush the landscape appears and that conditions are expected to continue over the next several weeks.

In determining fire danger, managers use several indicators including moisture content of grasses, shrubs and trees, and projected weather conditions. Although campfires are not presently restricted in the area, fire managers advise visitors to dress in warm clothes instead.