After the latest storms that moved through Montana on Monday, the Sawlog Fire details have been updated. The rain and snow is not nearly as helpful to this fire as you might think. It's still listed as 1,500 acres on the official wildfire incident page, and the cause is listed as 'undetermined'.
Huge portions of northeast Montana are under Red Flag Warnings for fire danger. High temperatures, low humidity, and gusty winds are a recipe for wildfires. These can be especially dangerous in Montana's rural areas with fewer resources to fight them.
Bozeman, Belgrade, and Big Sky are just a few of the areas being inundated with wildfire smoke again on Tuesday morning. Many parts of Montana are feeling the weight of bad air quality because of the smoke.
Dangerously hot temperatures are forecasted for portions of both western and eastern Montana through Friday. We've already weathered weeks of hot, dry days and with daytime highs reaching 105 - fire danger and health risks are big concerns.
Almost the entire state of Montana is under some sort of heat and fire advisory on Thursday. Excessive heat continues for dozens of counties, and Red Flag Warning persist for huge chunks of Montana. Windy conditions are expected with some thunderstorm activity, increasing the chance of existing fires to grow.
Very dry conditions, gusty winds up to 40 MPH, and the chance of lightning storms have created dangerous fire conditions across all of western Montana on Friday. Any wildfires that start today will be difficult to contain, so Red Flag Warnings have been issued across the western counties.
Wildfire smoke from Canada, and the smoke from fires within Montana dropped the Air Quality Index (AQI) in parts of Montana by dozens of points on Wednesday. Thursday isn't looking too promising either with Air Quality Alerts and Heat Advisories in effect for large portions of the state.
Red Flag Warnings have been issued for a large area covering Fort Peck Lake and the Missouri River on Thursday. Very dry conditions and gusty winds up to 40 MPH today make for extremely precarious conditions.