HELENA — The 2024 Montana Wildfire Season got off to a blazing start but conditions have cooled somewhat recently. According to the Northern Rockies Coordination Center, 83,919 acres have burned across the state as of Monday with an estimated cost of $55 million dollars.
After a drier-than-normal June for most of the state, July quickly turned up the heat. Right after Independence Day temperatures soared and fire season took off. The Horse Gulch Fire near Canyon Ferry quickly became the state's largest fire of the season. Other fires like the Miller Peak Fire near Missoula and the Deadman Fire near Ashland grew into very large fires.
The next few weeks were hot with temperatures in the 90s and 100s as little precipitation fell, fires were popping all over a state with increasing drought conditions, until August.
A significant pattern change has resulted in cooler temperatures and above-average precipitation, and a lull in the fire activity. More agreeable weather has aided firefighters in getting control of most of July's fires, and most of August's fires have kept from getting out of control.
More than 60% of the state is currently in some level of drought, with a small area of exceptional drought just west of the continental divide over Powell County. However, cooler-than-normal temperatures along with steady showers and thunderstorms should continue this week which could continue to slow fire potential.
Wildfire season can last until the snow flies, with September being a potentially combustible month. But without intense heat and strong wind in the foreseeable future, at this current pace, Montana might not reach the average acreage burned a year of 470,000 acres. For that to happen, Mother Nature will need to assist in our own effort to not start new fires and adhere to the fire restrictions that have been placed around the state.
