Hot and dry conditions which started in July, persisted into August with dry lightning triggering numerous wild fires.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS MSO wrote it up.
Hot and dry conditions which started in July, persisted into August with dry lightning triggering numerous wild fires.
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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 31, 7:30 PM MST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 830 PM MDT TUE JUL 31 2007 .UPDATE...HAVE UPDATED DEW POINT AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY FORECASTS FOR TONIGHT BASED ON CURRENT OBSERVATIONS. MINOR ADJUSTMENTS WERE MADE FOR WIND AND SKY COVER FOR THIS EVENING AS WELL BASED ON CURRENT CONDITIONS. NO OTHER UPDATES EXPECTED THIS EVENING. && .AVIATION...AREAS OF SMOKE WILL LOWER VISIBILITIES OVER PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IDAHO AND WESTERN MONTANA OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS. PLEASE SEE APPROPRIATE TAFS AND TWEBS. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 251 PM MDT TUE JUL 31 2007/ DISCUSSION...TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY. FIRE WEATHER CONTINUES TO MAKE A SIGNIFICANT MARK...SEE DISCUSSION BELOW FOR ADDITIONAL INFO. HIGH PRESSURE WILL ONCE AGAIN BUILD OVER THE REGION WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY WITH RISING AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES. SMOKE WILL AGAIN BE ON THE INCREASE IN THE VICINITY OF NEARBY FIRES. RELATIVELY STABLE VALLEY CONDITIONS SHOULD TRAP SMOKE DURING THE NIGHTS AND MORNINGS. HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN SHIFTING NORTHWARD OVER THE REGION LATE THURSDAY. HOWEVER...DUE TO VERY DRY LOWER LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE...CONVECTION IS LIKELY TO REMAIN VERY ISOLATED...HIGH BASED/DRY...AND MOSTLY CONFINED TO THE CLEARWATERS AND LEMHI COUNTY. THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...CONFIDENCE IS VERY LOW IN THE MODELS...LITTLE OR NO RUN TO RUN CONSISTENCY. WILL MAKE FEW CHANGES TO THE CURRENT FORECAST...STILL LOOKS LIKE A TROUGH WILL MOVE INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND INTO WESTERN MONTANA DURING THIS TIME. THE UNCERTAINTY COMES WITH WHERE AND WHEN THE LOW MOVES. WILL KEEP THE COOLING TREND AND THE SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS ONLY SLOW THEM DOWN A LITTLE. FIRE WEATHER...FIRE WEATHER CONTINUES TO BE ONE OF THE MAIN WEATHER ISSUES. MODERATE WESTERLY WINDS WILL QUICKLY DIMINISH THIS EVENING AS THE ATMOSPHERE STABILIZES. HIGH PRESSURE WILL PRODUCE ADDITIONAL WARMING AND EXTREMELY DRY SURFACE CONDITIONS WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY. AS THE ATMOSPHERE FURTHER WARMS...THE INSTABILITY WILL INCREASE AND THE POTENTIAL FOR PLUME DOMINATED FIRES WILL INCREASE LATE WEDNESDAY AND ESPECIALLY THURSDAY. HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN SHIFTING OVER THE NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND MAINLY SOUTHWEST MONTANA THURSDAY...BUT LIKELY NOT ENOUGH MOISTURE TO SUPPORT SIGNIFICANT CONVECTION THURSDAY. && .MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MT...NONE. ID...NONE. && UPDATE/AVIATION...STEGEMILLER PREVIOUS...BAUCK/KOLATA
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
Dry lightning events in August triggered wild fires in Flathead and Sanders Counties. One of the largest fires in Sanders County, the Chippy Creek burned 98,590 acres and destroyed one Out Building.
Dry lightning events in August triggered wild fires in Flathead County. The Skyland Fire burned 26,312 acres and destroyed two Out Buildings.
Dry lightning events in August triggered wild fires in Sanders, Missoula and Lake Counties. The Black Cat Fire burned 11,758 acres and destroyed seven Out Buildings between Frenchtown and Missoula.
Dry lightning events in August triggered wild fires in Missoula County. The Black Cat Fire burned 11,758 acres and destroyed seven Out Buildings between Frenchtown and Missoula.
Dry lightning events in August triggered wild fires in Missoula County. The Jocko Lakes Fire burned 35,850 acres and destroyed seven Out Buildings near Placid and Seeley Lake areas.
Dry lightning events in August triggered wild fires in Ravalli County. The Bitterroot Fire Use Complex wild fire burned 10,640 acres and destroyed one Out Building near the Idaho and Montana border.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, August 2007
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: 54100, 54101, 54102, 54103, 54104, 54105.