Multiple rounds of thunderstorms from the 25th through the morning of the 28th resulted in at least five separate wildfires across northeast Montana.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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 GGW wrote it up.
Multiple rounds of thunderstorms from the 25th through the morning of the 28th resulted in at least five separate wildfires across northeast Montana.
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 Jul 25, 8:20 AM MST, 4 hours 16 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 920 AM MDT FRI JUL 25 2008 .SHORT TERM...FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA...TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY... GOING FORECAST IN DECENT SHAPE FOR TODAY. WINDS WERE TWEAKED SLIGHTLY TO REFLECT MODEL AGREEMENT...GIVING SLIGHTLY LIGHTER WINDS FOR THE CENTRAL ZONES AND SLIGHTLY STRONGER WINDS FOR THE SW ZONES. REST OF FORECAST WAS LEFT UNTOUCHED. JAMBA PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... A SURFACE HIGH HAS MOVED OVER THE AREA WHICH WILL MAINTAIN MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES TODAY. HOWEVER THIS MORNING...WILL MAINTAIN PATCHY FOG DUE TO HIGH RH FROM CLEAR NIGHT SKIES AND HIGH RH. FOG WILL BURN OFF BY MID MORNING. AN AREA OF WEAK INSTABILITY NEAR A BOUNDARY COULD INITIATE LATE AFTERNOON CONVECTION TO OUR SOUTHWEST. IF ANY STORMS GET GOING THEY COULD MOVE NORTHEAST INTO THE SOUTHWEST ZONES BEFORE FADING. HOWEVER WITH NO OBVIOUS MECHANISM IN LOCAL ZONES TO INITIATE CONVECTION WILL MAINTAIN INHERITED AFTERNOON POPS BELOW MENTION. SPC HAS MOST OF NE MT OUTSIDE AREA OF THUNDER. THE SURFACE HIGH WILL MOVE EAST TONIGHT...MAINTAINING A LIGHT EASTERLY FLOW. THE UPPER RIDGE AXIS MOVES OVER EASTERN MONTANA BY SATURDAY MORNING WHICH WILL BACK UPPER WINDS MORE WESTERLY BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON. WEAK DISTURBANCES IN THE UPPER FLOW AND RATHER HOT AND UNSTABLE CONDITIONS...ESPECIALLY OVER THE SOUTHWEST...WILL IMPROVE SUPPORT FOR AFTERNOON AND EVENING STORMS. AN UPPER TROUGH MOVING SOUTH FROM THE GULF WILL EJECT A SHORTWAVE ACROSS CANADA SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. THIS DISTURBANCE WILL BE FED ADDITIONAL MOISTURE WITH THE SOUTHWEST UPPER FLOW. THE CHANCES INCREASE SUNDAY FOR STRONGER CONVECTION...POSSIBLY SEVERE...AS CAPE AND LIFTED INDEX VALUE BECOME MORE SUBSTANTIAL. SCT .LONG TERM...SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY... EXTENDED PERIOD DOMINATED BY UPPER RIDGE OVER THE CENTRAL STATES WITH TROF OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC. THERE WILL BE A FEW CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS AS SHORTWAVES WILL CONTINUE TO EJECT FROM THE GULF OF ALASKA LOW AND TEMPORARILY KNOCK DOWN THE RIDGE AS THEY RIDE ALONG THE CANADIAN BORDER. ONE SUCH WAVE EXPECTED AT THE OPENING OF THE PERIOD FOR GOOD CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY NIGHT. ANOTHER WAVE INDICATED BY THE OPERATIONS MODELS BUT NOT THE ENSEMBLES FOR TUESDAY NIGHT. ALL SUGGEST THAT THE RIDGE AXIS WILL SHIFT TOWARD THE DAKOTAS FOR MORE FAVORABLE SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT FOR THUNDERSTORMS. QUESTION AS TO HOW LONG THE SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL PERSIST. IF SHORTWAVE TROF PASSAGE DOES OCCUR MIDWEEK...WILL LIKELY SEE RIDGE REBUILDING TO THE WEST RESULTING IN SLIGHTLY DRIER CONDITIONS INTO THE WEEKEND. HEIGHTS WILL LOWER SLIGHTLY BEHIND THE SHORTWAVES RESULTING IN DIP IN TEMPERATURES MIDWEEK...BUT OVERALL TEMPERATURES WILL BE ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH THE PERIOD. EBERT && .AVIATION... HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE REGION WILL RESULT IN CLEAR SKIES AND LIGHT WINDS THROUGH THE NEXT 24 HOURS. A LITTLE FOG MAY AFFECT KGGW AND KOLF THIS MORNING WITH REDUCED VISIBILITIES...BUT SHOULD BURN OFF BY MID MORNING. RAE && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && WEATHER.GOV/GLASGOW
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 307 AM MDT FRI JUL 25 2008 MTZ016>027-059>062-261200- CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY- DANIELS-SHERIDAN-WESTERN ROOSEVELT-PETROLEUM-GARFIELD-MCCONE- RICHLAND-DAWSON-PRAIRIE-WIBAUX-NORTHERN PHILLIPS- SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS-NORTHERN VALLEY-EASTERN ROOSEVELT- 307 AM MDT FRI JUL 25 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY AN APPROACHING PACIFIC TROUGH WILL PROVIDE ENOUGH MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY FOR POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. PLEASE CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECAST FOR DETAILS ON THIS DEVELOPING SYSTEM. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
A Miles City Field Office employee observed a burning tree on private land located three miles southeast of Mosby.
This wildfire occurred 33 miles east of Terry on BLM and private land and grew to approximately 57.3 acres. The fire received significant rain early on the morning of the 27th.
This wildfire occurred 14 miles northeast of Jordan near Haxby and was reported to be approximately 14.7 acres in size consuming grass and sagebrush.
This fire developed on BLM Land near the Musselshell River approximately 68 miles east of Lewistown, MT. The fire grew to 20 acres in size and consumed mostly grass and Ponderosa Pine trees.
This wildfire occurred roughly 40 miles southwest of Fort Peck within the CMR Wildlife Refuge. This fire grew to at least 15 acres in size before being extinguished.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, July 2008
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: 124486, 124484, 124485, 124482, 124483.