Wildfire, Prairie
- When
- August 18, 12:01 AM MST to August 19, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Prairie County, Countywide
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 46.861, -105.378 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Montana, August 18 to 19, 2003
There were several small wildfires in Prarie County. Approximately 1000 acres burned.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS GGW wrote it up.
There were several small wildfires in Prarie County. Approximately 1000 acres burned.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Glasgow, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 17, 7:25 PM MST, 4 hours 36 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 17, 7:25 PM MST, 4 hours 36 minutes before
NORTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT
825 PM MDT SUN AUG 17 2003
.SHORT TERM...
MINOR UPDATE THIS EVENING TO WINDS.
AN INVERTED TROF EXTENDING WEST FROM SURFACE LOW PRESSURE OVER NORTH
DAKOTA WAS DRIFTING SOUTH THROUGH THE CWA THIS EVENING. THE ONLY
WEATHER ASSOCIATED WITH IT IS A WIND SHIFT...AND IS HAPPENING
QUICKER THAN EXPECTED. THEREFORE...FORECAST GRIDS HAD TO BE
ADJUSTED. OTHERWISE...REST OF FORECAST LOOKS IN GOOD SHAPE. JAMBA
REMAINDER OF EARLIER DISC...
OVERNIGHT... UPPER LOW OVER NW WY WILL CONTINUE TO PUSH SOUTHEAST
WHILE A WEAKER LOW LIFTS NORTH FROM COLORADO. MODELS SUGGEST THIS
SECOND LOW WILL KEEP MOISTURE OVER SOUTHERN MONTANA AND SHIFT PRECIP
INTO SOUTHEAST ZONES AND KEEP IT THERE THROUGH MONDAY. THIS SHOULD
KEEP TEMPERATURES COOLEST OVER SOUTHEAST ZONES. FOR REMAINDER OF
AREA...SECONDARY FRONT OVER SASKATCHEWAN...WILL PUSH
SOUTH...REINFORCING NORTHERLY LOW LEVEL WINDS AND COOLING
TEMPERATURES 5-10 DEGREES MORE OVER SATURDAY.
BOTH UPPER LOWS PUSH EAST ON TUESDAY ALLOWING RIDGE TO REBOUND IN
THE WEST AHEAD OF NEXT TROF. COOL TEMPERATURES LINGER IN THE EAST
WITH WARMING IN THE WEST AND DRYING AIRMASS. EBERT
.LONG TERM...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY...
WESTERLY JET STREAM BEGINNING TO SINK A BIT TO THE SOUTH NEAR THE
CANADIAN BORDER FOR MID TO LATE THIS WEEK. ONE SHORTWAVE NOTED
MOVING EAST ACROSS ALBERTA AND THEN SOUTHEAST INTO EASTERN
MONTANA ON WEDNESDAY. HAVE INDICATED SLIGHT CHC POPS FOR NORTH AND
EAST ZONES WITH THE APPROACH AND PASSAGE OF THIS SHORTWAVE AND
ASSOCIATED COOL FRONT ON WEDNESDAY. CANADIAN IS DRIER FOR THIS
PERIOD THAN YESTERDAY WITH GFS AND ETA BOTH IN AGREEMENT ON LOCATION
AND INTENSITY OF SHORTWAVE TUESDAY EVENING. TEMPERATURES TO REMAIN
CLOSER TO SEASONAL NORMS DURING MID-WEEK. UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE
WILL BUILD SOMEWHAT FURTHER NORTH FROM THE GREAT BASIN BY THIS
WEEKEND ALONG WITH A GRADUAL INCREASE IN SUB-TROPICAL MOISTURE.
WONT BE SURPRISED TO SEE THE EVENING AND NIGHTTIME VARIETY
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY DEVELOPING ACROSS THE CWFA BY FRIDAY EVENING
AND POSSIBLY AGAIN LATER SATURDAY. WILL LEAVE THIS FOR LATER SHIFTS.
NIGHTTIME TEMPS ALSO WARMED A BIT FOR THE WEEKEND TIME FRAME DUE TO
INFLUX OF MOISTURE FROM THE SOUTH AS WELL AS SOME BUILDING OF
THETA-E RIDGE DURING THAT TIME FRAME. LYNN
KGGW BBE 062/090 057/091 059/089 90000000
BEBB 056/087 056/087 059/087 059/091 7700000000
KGDV TBE 065/079 057/085 060/091 90340002
BEBB 056/088 056/089 059/089 059/092 7700000000
.GGW...NONE.Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 17, 5:00 AM MST, 19 hours 1 minute before
MTZ016>027-059>062-181200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 600 AM MDT SUN AUG 17 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA .DAY ONE... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. DNS
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Wildfire
- A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Wildfire in California, August 18 to 20, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, August 18, 2003
- Damaging Winds in Nebraska, August 18, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Nebraska, August 18, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Minnesota, August 18, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Iowa, August 18, 2003
- Flash Flood in Alabama, August 18, 2003
- Lightning Strike in Colorado, August 18, 2003
- Flash Flood in Arizona, August 18, 2003
- Hail in Iowa, August 18, 2003
- Lightning Strike in Florida, August 18, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Colorado, August 18, 2003
More
Every storm in Montana in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, August 2003
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5375202.