Flirting with fire
Three fires during the past week sent fire crews around the county scrambling to successfully douse flames before anything got out of hand.
Fire danger was expected to rise Wednesday and Thursday with the National Weather Service issuing a Red Flag Warning as low humidities, hot temperatures and strong gusty winds were expected to create what is termed critical fire weather conditions.
Thursday was expected to bring a nose-dive in temperatures with a high of 76 predicted, followed by just 68 degrees Friday and 67 degrees Saturday, according to the NWS. The lower temperatures will also come with a 30 to 40 percent chance of showers on Friday and Saturday.
Stillwater County took proactive measures and closed all open burning for the week, citing the governor declaring fire emergency for the state. Available resources are limited due to the large number of fires in the state and region.
Cooler, Wetter August
Helping Columbus in the battle to stay fire free were lower than normal temperatures in August and higher than normal moisture.
Aug. 23 even saw a record low of 32 degrees.
“In fact this was the earliest Columbus has seen a temperature at or below freezing,” said Tom Frieders, NWS warning coordination meteorologist.
The average daily high was 83.5 degrees, compared to the normal reading of 86 degrees, according to the NWS. The 1.38 inches of moisture received was up from the normal amount of .91 inches.
Mystic Lake saw a similar trend, with an average daily high of 74.6 degrees, which was down just slightly from normal. The 2.71 inches of moisture was well above the normal August amount of 1.89 inches.
And in Rapelje, the average daily of 86.6 degrees was just a bit above normal while 1.39 inches of moisture was up from the normal August amount of 1.01 inches.
Rapelje was most often the hot spot in the county, recording 12 days in the 90s. Four days hit 96 and one hit the 99-degree mark. Columbus had nine days in the 90s with two of those reaching 96 degrees.
Stillwater is one of 17 counties classified by the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation as being “near average.” Nineteen counties are “slightly dry,” seven are “moderately dry” and 13 are “extremely dry.” (See state drought map on page 2).
A Glimpse Forward
Frieders said that September is expected to be cool and wet but as winter approaches the trend should be more towards warmer and drier than normal conditions.
“We have a strong El Nino (abnormally warm waters in the eastern Pacific that help steer weather patterns across the globe) in place which tends to produce warmer/drier conditions for our winter up here,” said Frieders.
Three fires in six days
Saturday - August 29
•At 12:22 p.m. Molt fire crews were paged to the scene of a motor vehicle accident on the county line that sparked a grass fire that burned about 10 acres.
Sunday - August 30
•A 911 brush fire reported at 4:29 a.m. on Upper Flat Road in Columbus turned out to be a lightning-caused blaze that burned about an acre just off Shane Ridge. Columbus Fire Rescue monitored the scene for the entire day.
•A fire was reported via 911 at 12:20 p.m. from a caller who saw smoke near Locomotive Butte on the north Stillwater County line. Rapelje fire crews were paged and joined by Wheatland County sheriff and two engines. At 1:38 p.m. more resources were requested from Molt fire crews and County Disaster Emergency Services Coordinator Carol Arkell was notified.
In short order, DNRC was notified and offered help. DNRC responded with engines and a helicopter at 1:58 p.m. By 9:29 p.m., the fire had been handed over to DNRC.