Several wildfires, including the Windy Rock Fire near Helmville, the Cloudrest and Bivens Creek fires in the Tobacco Root Mountains, and the Horn and McAllister fires in the Madison Valley, have burned thousands of acres each. It's no coincidence that all of these fires are burning in drier areas of the state.
According to the latest drought monitor, all of these fires are burning in areas of severe to extreme drought.
As a whole, the state of Montana is not in terrible shape, with 42% of the state facing some level of drought. About 20% of the state is in moderate drought, 16.5% is under severe drought, and 6% is under extreme drought.
While this summer has been fairly wet and cool, some drought relief has even taken place. But Western Montana is facing a longer-term drought. The past two winters have been light, and up until this spring, parts of Powell County, where the windy rock fire currently burns, were facing exceptional drought.
The last week has been warmer, drier and windier than any point this summer. A few holdover lightning strikes turned into large wildfires that have exposed the underlying drought conditions. Fuels in western and southwestern Montana are very dry, and the possibility exists of more fires in this area until cooler temperatures and more steady rain and snow return later in autumn.
