Montana, 2012

Wildfire in Montana, July 25 to 29, 2012

July 25 to 29, 2012 · NWS BYZ · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

The Skibstad Wildfire started on the evening of July 25th and originated 8 miles southeast of Columbus near Highway 421 and grew to 3000 acres during the overnight hours. Officials believed the fire started when a fire in a building spread to the surrounding area.

Where it happened

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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 Skibstad Wildfire started on the evening of July 25th and originated 8 miles southeast of Columbus near Highway 421 and grew to 3000 acres during the overnight hours. Officials believed the fire started when a fire in a building spread to the surrounding area. Stillwater County officials ordered evacuations for homes in the Shane Creek area south of the fire. However, no homes or buildings were destroyed as a result of the fire. Fire crews and 45 engines from Sweet Grass, Yellowstone, Stillwater and Carbon Counties along with state DNRC firefighters fought the blaze. Two helicopters and two air tankers were used in fighting the fire. The fuels for the fire were timber, grass and sage. Total personnel used to fight the fire was 234 and the total area burned was 3,354 acres. The fire was contained on July 29th around 8 PM.

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 Jul 25, 1:51 PM MST, 4 hours 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 25, 1:51 PM MST, 4 hours 9 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
251 PM MDT WED JUL 25 2012

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR THU AND FRI...

BROAD NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL BE ACROSS THE REGION TONIGHT AS A
RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER WESTERN MONTANA. EXIT REGION
OF 300MB JET WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN WYOMING OVERNIGHT WITH
LEFT EXIT REGION MOVING ACROSS OUR SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS.
CONVECTION IS CURRENTLY DEVELOPING OVER NORTHERN WYOMING AND
SHOULD LIFT NORTHWARD INTO OUR MOUNTAIN ZONES THROUGH THE
EVENING. UPPER RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL SHIFT EASTWARD
THURSDAY OVER SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA. MODELS
CONTINUE TO BRING WEAK ENERGY ACROSS OUR SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS
TOMORROW ALONG WITH MID LEVEL MOISTURE. THIS WILL BRING A
CONTINUED CHANCE OF ISOLATED STORMS. TEMPERATURES WILL BE ON THE
RISE AGAIN THURSDAY WITH AS A SURFACE THERMAL RIDGE BUILDS OVER
THE AREA. HEIGHTS CONTINUING TO INCREASE OVER THE AREA FRIDAY AND
WILL BRING US BACK TO ABOVE SEASONAL TEMPERATURES WITH MID TO
UPPER 90S EXPECTED. MODELS ARE CONSISTENT IN BRINGING A RETURN OF
MONSOON MOISTURE BACK INTO THE AREA FRIDAY NIGHT. THIS WILL
COINCIDE WITH A SHORT WAVE MOVING THROUGH THE AREA TO BRING
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO THE ENTIRE AREA. STORMS
WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS ALONG WITH HEAVY
RAIN. PRECIPTABLE WATER ARE PROGGED TO BE OVER 3/4 OF AN INCH
OVER THE WESTERN AREAS AND JUST OVER AN INCH IN OUR EASTERN
ZONES.

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR SAT...SUN...MON...TUE...WED...

SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL PREVAIL THROUGHOUT THE EXTENDED
PERIOD. BLENDED POP FORECASTS WITH ALLBLEND GUIDANCE.
PRECIPITATION CHANCES WILL BE MINIMAL THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD.
BLENDED MAX/MIN TEMPERATURE FORECASTS WITH THE BEST-PERFORMING
12Z GUIDANCE...BCALLBLEND / ALLBLEND RESPECTIVELY. TEMPERATURES
WILL BE ABOVE AVERAGE THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD. BRS

&&

.AVIATION...

VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGHOUT THE TAF PERIOD. EXPECT
GUSTY WINDS THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL
DEVELOP OVER THE MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING...BUT SHOULD
NOT IMPACT AREA TERMINALS. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP
THURSDAY AFTERNOON GENERALLY FROM KBIL WEST. BRS

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS...

    THU     FRI     SAT     SUN     MON     TUE     WED
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 059/089 063/095 066/094 066/094 066/096 067/094 066/093
    11/U    10/B    21/B    21/B    21/U    11/U    11/U
LVM 048/091 054/095 056/093 055/093 056/094 056/092 055/091
    11/U    12/T    31/B    21/B    21/U    11/U    11/U
HDN 058/092 061/097 064/096 066/097 066/098 066/097 065/096
    10/U    10/B    21/B    21/U    21/U    11/U    11/U
MLS 060/088 063/097 070/098 071/098 070/099 071/099 070/097
    00/U    00/B    21/B    21/B    21/U    11/U    11/U
4BQ 058/090 060/096 065/097 067/097 067/098 068/098 068/097
    00/U    00/B    21/B    21/B    21/U    11/U    11/U
BHK 056/084 057/092 064/095 067/094 067/096 067/096 068/095
    00/U    00/B    22/T    21/U    21/B    11/U    11/U
SHR 054/089 058/096 061/094 062/094 062/096 063/095 062/093
    11/U    11/B    21/B    21/B    21/U    11/U    11/U

&&

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

&&

WEATHER.GOV/BILLINGS

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Northern Stillwater

When
July 25, 6:00 PM MST to July 29, 8:00 PM MST
Where
Northern Stillwater forecast zone
Reported by
Fire Department/Rescue
Coordinates
45.669, -109.395 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wildfire, Eastern Carbon

When
July 25, 6:00 PM MST to July 29, 8:00 PM MST
Where
Eastern Carbon forecast zone
Reported by
Fire Department/Rescue

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

More

Every storm in Montana in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, July 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: 391631, 391632.