Wildfire in Montana, August 20 to 25, 2012

Name: Wildfire in Montana, August 20 to 25, 2012
Start: 2012-08-20T14:15
End: 2012-08-25T17:00
Location: Montana

August 20 to 25, 2012 · NWS BYZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The Highway 87 Wildfire was reported around 3:00 pm on the afternoon of Monday, August 20th. The wildfire was located approximately 6 miles southeast of Billings.

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 BYZ wrote it up.

The Highway 87 Wildfire was reported around 3:00 pm on the afternoon of Monday, August 20th. The wildfire was located approximately 6 miles southeast of Billings. The fire quickly grew to several hundred acres and was fueled by tinder-dry grass and timber, along with hot, dry, windy conditions. Aggressive ground and aerial attack held the fire to 1000 to around 2000 acres during the afternoon and evening of August 20th. One structure was confirmed lost. However, no injuries were reported. The fire was human caused and, at this time, remains under investigation. The fire grew to about 1,933 acres and was contained at approximately 6:00 pm on August 25th. More detailed information can be found at www.inciweb.org.

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 Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 20, 8:50 AM MST, 5 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 20, 8:50 AM MST, 5 hours 25 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
950 AM MDT MON AUG 20 2012

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR TDY AND TUE...

A COUPLE OF WEAK DISTURBANCES WERE ROUNDING THE RIDGE AXIS AND
TRACKING THROUGH NORTHERN WYOMING THIS MORNING. THESE WILL HAVE
LITTLE IMPACT ON OUR WEATHER TODAY OTHER THAN LINGERING CLOUDS
ALONG THE MONTANA/WYOMING BORDER. SOME INSTABILITY AND
DIFFERENTIAL HEATING WILL PRODUCE SOME WEAK CONVECTION OVER THE
HIGHER TERRAIN TODAY AND EARLY THIS EVENING. THIS ALREADY HANDLED
WELL IN THE CURRENT FORECAST. SO ONLY A FEW MINOR TWEAKS TO SKY
COVER AND MOUNTAIN TEMPS FOR THIS MORNINGS UPDATE. BT

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR WED...THU...FRI...SAT...SUN...

MODELS REMAIN IN GOOD AGREEMENT AND ONLY SOME MINOR ADJUSTMENTS
MADE TO THE EXTENDED FORECAST. GFS/ECMWF BRING AN UPPER TROUGH OF
LOW PRESSURE ACROSS THE AREA ON WEDNESDAY. STRONG FORCING ALOFT
WITH THIS WAVE AS MODELS INDICATING STRONG Q VECTOR FORCING AND
JET COUPLET OVER SOUTHERN MONTANA. UPPER WAVE WILL TAP INTO
MONSOONAL MOISTURE AND HAVE RAISED POPS TO HIGH SCATTERED ACROSS
OUR NORTHERN ZONES WHERE THE BEST DYNAMICS WILL BE LOCATED.
ISOLATED SHOWERS CONTINUING OVER THE FORECAST AREA WEDNESDAY
EVENING WITH A MOIST AND UNSTABLE FLOW OVER THE AREA. WEAK RIDGING
SETTING UP OVER THE AREA ON THURSDAY AS ANOTHER TROUGH BEGINS
MOVING IN FROM THE WEST COAST. DRY WEATHER EXPECTED ON THURSDAY
BUT THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS ACROSS OUR NORTHERN
ZONES AS MODELS INDICATE MODERATE Q VECTOR FORCING OVER THE AREA.
THIS SYSTEM WILL HAVE LESS MOISTURE TO WORK WITH AND ONLY ADDED
ISOLATED POPS. OVERALL WEATHER PATTERN BEGINNING TO CHANGE AS A
SERIES FOR UPPER WAVES WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHERN CANADA OVER THE
WEEKEND AND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. MOISTURE LOOKS LIMITED AT THIS
TIME AND HAVE CONTINUED A DRY FORECAST FOR THIS TIME PERIOD.

TEMPERATURES WILL BE COOLING TO SEASONAL VALUES WEDNESDAY THROUGH
THURSDAY WITH A BRIEF WARM UP ON FRIDAY. HEIGHTS WILL BEGIN
FALLING AGAIN ON SATURDAY AND TEMPERATURES WILL COOL TO SEASONAL
NORMALS FOR SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY. RICHMOND

&&

.AVIATION...

ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER THE MOUNTAINS TODAY
WITH MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS POSSIBLE. VFR CONDITIONS CAN BE
EXPECTED OVER THE LOWER ELEVATIONS TODAY. RICHMOND

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS...

    TDY TUE     WED     THU     FRI     SAT     SUN
-------------------------------------------------------
BIL 092 058/095 061/086 059/081 057/087 057/081 054/078
    1/B 00/U    24/T    21/B    02/T    11/U    11/U
LVM 088 049/091 053/081 048/075 046/080 047/077 043/074
    2/T 11/B    34/T    21/B    02/T    11/B    11/B
HDN 094 055/097 059/086 059/083 056/090 056/082 054/079
    0/B 00/U    24/T    21/B    02/T    11/U    11/U
MLS 092 058/095 062/089 061/085 059/090 059/082 057/078
    0/U 00/U    04/T    21/B    02/T    11/U    11/U
4BQ 091 056/094 058/089 061/086 057/090 058/082 056/079
    0/U 00/U    02/T    21/U    02/T    11/U    11/U
BHK 088 054/091 058/090 060/085 058/089 058/081 055/078
    0/U 00/U    03/T    31/B    02/T    11/U    11/B
SHR 087 052/090 055/086 055/082 053/086 053/079 052/077
    1/B 10/U    13/T    20/B    01/U    11/U    11/U

&&

.BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...NONE.
WY...NONE.

&&

WEATHER.GOV/BILLINGS

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Yellowstone

When: August 20, 2:15 PM MST to August 25, 5:00 PM MST
Where: Yellowstone forecast zone
Reported by: Park/Forest Service

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

Every storm in Montana in 2012 Every state in 2012 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, August 2012

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: 402936.