Lucerne, Wyoming
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Thermopolis West census division. It lies in ZIP code area 82443. It stands on Kirby Creek. The Survey maps it on the Thermopolis quadrangle. 548 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,314 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresLucerne grew from 535 to 548 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 535 | |
| 2020 | 548 | +13 (+2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 8 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1955 USGS Thermopolis quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Thermopolis quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1960 USGS Thermopolis quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Thermopolis quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Thermopolis quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
39 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 39 fires within 5 miles of Lucerne between 1993 and 2020, burning about 221 acres in total. 8 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 |
| Natural | 8 |
| Fireworks | 4 |
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 2015 | Natural | 7.5 acres | Worland Field Office | COAL DRAW |
| 22 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Worland Field Office | LUCERNE |
| 10 September 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Wyoming State Forestry | not named |
| 3 August 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Worland Field Office | QUINCY FIRE |
| 3 August 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Wyoming State Forestry | not named |
| 2 August 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 acres | Wyoming State Forestry | not named |
| 17 August 2003 | Natural | 15 acres | Worland Field Office | LANE 13 |
| 15 August 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.9 acres | Worland Field Office | TV DUMP |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Lucerne: 3 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andreen Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Harvey | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Kirby Borrow Area | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Shafer | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
3 since 2011Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lucerne in 3 storm reports between 2011 and 2023: 2 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lucerne | $25,000 | Damage to a barn and several outbuildings from a strong thunderstorm wind gust at a ranch between Thermopolis and Kirby WY. Estimated wind gust of 50 to 60 mph based on damage. Damage estimated to have occurred around 426 PM MDT June 4 2023 based on radar. Nearest surface observation was a personal weather sensor 4 miles away, which showed a gust to 22 mph at the 445 pm reporting time, but storm did not directly affect this sensor location. Sheds, items, and debris were blown east to west generally with no indication of distinct rotation. Outbuildings had openings to the east, making them especially susceptible to easterly wind gusts. Little to no damage to nearby farms or trees, as the downdraft was from a small storm, leading to very localized damage, likely from an individual downdraft. |
| August 2011 | Hail | Lucerne | - | A thunderstorm moved through central Hot Springs County producing quarter sized hail. |
| August 2011 | Hail | Lucerne | - | A trained spotter reported one inch diameter hail for several minutes. |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Lane | 4.2 miles | 8 | |
| Kirby | 4.8 miles | 10 | |
| East Thermopolis | 6.2 miles | 8 | |
| Thermopolis | 6.4 miles | 8 | |
| Minnesela | 10.5 miles | 8 | |
| Nickelson Place | 15.2 miles | 8 | |
| Owl Creek | 20.9 miles | 12 | |
| Hamilton Dome | 21.3 miles | 12 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Lucerne | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1716027 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1597627. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.




