Wildfire, Wibaux
- When
- August 4, 10:30 PM MST to August 5, 5:00 AM MST
- Where
- Wibaux County, Wibaux
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 46.965, -104.249 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Montana, August 4 to 5, 2003
A lightning strike to an old cottonwood tree started a fire that burned approximately 60 acres of pasture and an old land fill.
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.
A lightning strike to an old cottonwood tree started a fire that burned approximately 60 acres of pasture and an old land fill.
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 4, 7:25 PM MST, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 4, 7:25 PM MST, 3 hours 5 minutes before
NORTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT
825 PM MDT MON AUG 4 2003
.SHORT TERM...UPDATE PLANNED.
WILL BE UPDATING THE GRIDS...ZFP...AND FIRE WEATHER FORECAST TO
BETTER FIT CURRENT CONDITIONS. A WEAK SHORT WAVE VISIBLE ON WATER
VAPOR IN NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA WILL PUSH EAST TONIGHT. LATEST MSAS
ANALYSIS HAS A WEAK COLD FRONT PUSHING INTO SOUTHWEST SASKATCHEWAN
AND SOUTHERN ALBERTA. THIS FRONT WILL PUSH SOUTH AND WEAKEN TONIGHT.
AN INVERTED TROUGH STRETCHES FROM THE DAKOTAS INTO EASTERN MONTANA.
CONVECTION HAS DEVELOPED TO THE WEST OF THE CWA ACROSS BLAINE AND
CHOUTEAU COUNTIES. ADDITIONAL SHOWERS IN THE EAST HAVE PUSHED OFF
INTO NORTH DAKOTA. ONE LONE THUNDERSTORM IN SOUTHERN SASKATCHEWAN IS
HEADING SOUTH TOWARDS SHERIDAN COUNTY. AS THE SHORT WAVE MOVES EAST
OVERNIGHT EXPECT THAT THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS NORTH OF THE MISSOURI. PLAN ON REMOVING POPS THIS
EVENING AND OVERNIGHT SOUTH OF THE MISSOURI. ALSO PLAN ON MAKING A
FEW TWEAKS TO THE WIND GRIDS TO FIT CURRENT AND EXPECTED CONDITIONS
FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT. THE REST OF THE FORECAST LOOKS TO BE IN
GREAT SHAPE AND NO ADDITIONAL CHANGES ARE PLANNED. CB
LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY...
NICE SHORTWAVE MOVING THROUGH THE SW FLOW ALOFT ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT
WILL BRING A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS LATE IN THE EVENING. TIME
HEIGHT SOUNDINGS OVER THE CWA SHOW REALLY STRONG OMEGA OVER THE WEST
AND NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA WITH THE WAVE. MID LEVEL MOISTURE
IS SUFFICIENT...ALTHOUGH THE LOWER LEVELS REMAIN FAIRLY DRY.
OTHERWISE...UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILDS BACK IN AS AN UPPER LEVEL LOW
DIGS AND DEEPENS OFF THE PAC NW. SEVERAL MINOR WAVES PASS
THROUGH...BUT FOR THE MOST PART IT LOOKS TO STAY HOT AND DRY IN THE
EXTENDED. FRANSEN
KGGW BBB 060/087 061/094 063/096 92202021
BBBB 064/093 061/093 061/092 060/092 9100000000
KGDV BBB 060/090 063/094 064/097 92000000
BBBB 065/097 062/093 062/094 061/093 9100000000
.GGW...NONE.Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 4, 4:52 AM MST, 17 hours 38 minutes before
MTZ016>027-059>062-051200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 552 AM MDT MON AUG 4 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. TFJ
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
- Flooding and Lightning Strikes in Ohio, August 4, 2003
- Flash Flood and Hail in Tennessee, August 4 to 5, 2003
- Flash Flood and Hail in Kentucky, August 4, 2003
- Flash Flood and Flood in Ohio, August 4, 2003
- Tornado and Hail in Virginia, August 4 to 5, 2003
- Flash Flooding in New York, August 4, 2003
- Flash Flood in Kentucky, August 4, 2003
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in South Carolina, August 4, 2003
- Flash Flood and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, August 4, 2003
- Flood in Ohio, August 4, 2003
- Flood in Ohio, August 4, 2003
- Damaging Winds in Texas, August 4, 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: 5375200.