2024 has been a wild weather year so far from wildfires, thunderstorms, snowstorms, to bitter cold; We’ve had it all here in Montana’s capital city.
Before I arrived to be your Daybreak meteorologist, a record breaking arctic airmass brought extreme cold as far south as Texas. Here in Helena, we were below 0 degrees for over 4 days, with the coldest air temperature being 36 below on the 13th, setting a daily low temperature record.
On the total opposite end of the spectrum, July was a scorcher. We recorded a streak of 18 straight days of high temperatures being at or exceeding 93 degrees.
Due to the hot and dry conditions, the Horse Gulch Fire started near Canyon Ferry on July 9th and was of great concern to the health and safety of many Helena residents. The fire burned over 15,000 acres and took almost the entire month to get it contained.
This was just 1 of the over 2000 separate wildfires reported across Montana this fire season.
Usually when you thick of strong wind in our state, you think of the plains along the Rocky Mountain Front. But Helena can get its fair share of damaging wind gusts too. Back on May 17th a wind gust of 62 MPH was recorded at Helena Regional.
Last but not least, who could forget the awesome displays of aurora borealis all throughout the year above our heads in Helena. The Sun reached the solar maximum, allowing 4 major northern lights events to leave many of us in Helena and around Montana starstruck.
As 2024 Comes to an end, we look back on the weather that shaped our year and look forward to what mother nature has in store for 2025.
