Wildfire in Montana, September 22 to 30, 2012

Name: Wildfire in Montana, September 22 to 30, 2012
Start: 2012-09-22T14:00
End: 2012-09-30T23:59
Location: Montana

September 22 to 30, 2012 · NWS BYZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The Wilson Fire was reported on Saturday, September 22nd at 2pm and originated 8 miles southeast of Roundup, Montana. The fuels burned were timber and sage.

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.

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Wind
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Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
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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 Wilson Fire was reported on Saturday, September 22nd at 2pm and originated 8 miles southeast of Roundup, Montana. The fuels burned were timber and sage. Musselshell County and other fire departments responded to the blaze, and Montana DNRC assisted with air tankers, helicopters and engines. The fire, believed to be human caused, quickly grew in tinder-dry fuels to around 4100 acres. At one point, U.S. Highway 87 just south of Roundup was closed for a time being. About 50 homes were ordered to evacuate but there were no reports of primary structures destroyed. A 150-man firefighting crew, composed of members from small, regional fire departments and the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation fought the blaze. In addition, three helicopters dropped water buckets and two fire-retardant bombers dropped a red chemical blanket along the fire's edge. 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 Sep 22, 8:10 AM MST, 5 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 22, 8:10 AM MST, 5 hours 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
910 AM MDT SAT SEP 22 2012

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR TDY AND SUN...

UPDATE TO ZFP AND WRKAFP. MADE JUST SOME SMALL TWEAKS TO THE
GOING FORECAST. A BACKDOOR COLD FRONT WAS PUSHING W THROUGH THE
FORECAST AREA THIS MORNING. THE FRONT APPEARED TO BE BETWEEN KBIL
AND KMLS AT 14Z. THE FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH THE ENTIRE AREA BY
EARLY AFTERNOON TURNING ALL THE WINDS TO AN EASTERLY DIRECTION.
MADE SOME SMALL WIND ADJUSTMENTS BASED ON NEW WRF AND RAP MODELS.
THE LOW-LEVEL E FLOW WILL LIMIT MIXING TO AROUND 850 MB E OF KBIL
AND TO NEAR 700 MB IN THE W. WITH THE BETTER MIXING OVER THE
W...HAVE RAISED THE HIGH TEMPERATURES A FEW DEGREES. SOME HIGH
CLOUD COVER WAS SEEN ON SATELLITE IMAGERY OVER NE MT THIS MORNING
ASSOCIATED WITH A JET. OTHER CLOUDS WERE ENCROACHING ON SW MT
AHEAD OF THE UPPER LOW ALONG THE PACIFIC NW COAST. RAISED CLOUD
COVER SLIGHTLY OVER THE FAR EASTERN AND WESTERN ZONES BASED ON THE
ABOVE. ARTHUR

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR MON...TUE...WED...THU...FRI...

UPPER RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL BE OVER THE NORTHERN PLAINS
EARLY IN THE PERIOD BUT WILL BE SLOWLY WORN DOWN BY A SERIES OF
DISTURBANCES MOVING IN FROM THE EASTERN PACIFIC. MODELS ARE IN
GOOD AGREEMENT IN BRINGING A CLOSED UPPER LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM
ACROSS OREGON AND INTO NORTHERN NEVADA ON MONDAY. THIS LOW WILL
WEAKEN AND BECOME AN OPEN WAVE AS IT SINKS SLOWLY SOUTHWARD INTO
NORTHERN COLORADO MONDAY. MODELS STILL INDICATING SOME WEAK ENERGY
FROM THIS SYSTEM WILL CLIP OUR MOUNTAINS AND WILL CONTINUE CHANCE
POPS FOR THESE AREAS. ANOTHER PIECE OF ENERGY WILL MOVE OUT OF
BRITISH COLUMBIA ON WEDNESDAY AND MODELS ARE DEPICTING A CLOSED
UPPER LOW TO FORM OVER NORTHWEST MONTANA. MODELS ARE NOT LINING UP
WELL ON THE TRACK OF THIS STORM BUT HAVE GONE AHEAD AND INTRODUCED
LOW POPS OVER THE PLAINS FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY.
MODELS ARE BRINGING AMPLE PACIFIC MOISTURE ACROSS THE AREA AND
ADDITIONAL LIFT WILL BE PROVIDED BY A SPEED MAX MOVING ACROSS THE
AREA. UPPER RIDGE BREAKING DOWN FRIDAY AND SATURDAY WITH A DRY AND
FAST ZONAL FLOW SETTING UP ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA.

TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE PERIOD WILL REMAIN SLIGHT ABOVE NORMAL
FOR THIS TIME OF THE YEAR AS NO SIGNIFICANT HEIGHT FALLS ARE
ANTICIPATED. RICHMOND

&&

.AVIATION...

VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE AREA TODAY AND
TONIGHT...WITH LIGHT EASTERLY WINDS EXPECTED. POOR VISIBILITY WILL
BE POSSIBLE IN KSHR WITH WILDFIRES BURNING EAST OF THE AREA.
CHURCH

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS...

    TDY SUN     MON     TUE     WED     THU     FRI
-------------------------------------------------------
BIL 079 047/078 050/081 054/076 053/077 053/077 053/078
    0/U 00/U    00/B    00/U    02/T    20/B    00/U
LVM 081 037/081 043/079 045/078 043/079 043/078 044/078
    0/U 00/B    00/B    00/B    02/T    20/B    00/U
HDN 081 042/083 047/085 050/081 049/081 050/081 049/081
    0/U 00/U    00/B    00/U    02/T    20/U    00/U
MLS 071 039/075 043/081 048/081 049/081 051/079 050/079
    0/U 00/U    00/U    00/U    01/B    22/W    00/U
4BQ 075 039/075 047/084 051/080 050/081 052/078 051/079
    0/U 00/U    00/U    00/U    02/T    22/W    00/U
BHK 065 034/072 039/080 045/078 047/078 048/076 048/075
    0/U 00/U    00/U    00/U    01/B    22/W    00/U
SHR 076 039/080 044/082 046/076 046/077 045/077 044/077
    0/U 00/U    00/B    02/T    22/T    22/W    10/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

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Musselshell

When: September 22, 2:00 PM MST to September 30, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Musselshell forecast zone
Reported by: Fire Department/Rescue
Coordinates: 46.497, -108.398 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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, September 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: 411756.