Montana, 2015Wildfire in Montana, September 19 to 20, 2015
September 19 to 20, 2015 · NWS BYZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone
A wildfire occurred just west of Columbus roughly around noon on Saturday, September 19th. Multiple resources that helped fight the fire were the Columbus, Park City, Nye and Absarokee Fire Departments, as well as the Carbon and Sweet Grass County DNRC.
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- 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.
A wildfire occurred just west of Columbus roughly around noon on Saturday, September 19th. Multiple resources that helped fight the fire were the Columbus, Park City, Nye and Absarokee Fire Departments, as well as the Carbon and Sweet Grass County DNRC. Fire suppression efforts from the ground and air with air tankers and helicopter drops were provided. The north end of the Countryman Creek Subdivision along Arrowhead Ridge Road, approximately five miles southwest of Columbus was evacuated. The fire threatened 15 to 20 homes with two of the homes being destroyed. The wildfire, which was human caused, burned approximately 700 acres.
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 19, 8:15 AM MST, 4 hours 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 19, 8:15 AM MST, 4 hours 45 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
915 AM MDT SAT SEP 19 2015
.UPDATE...
JUST A FEW TWEAKS FOR THE MORNING UPDATE. RAP SOUNDINGS SHOWED
GOOD MIXING POTENTIAL TODAY WHICH WILL PRODUCE BREEZY/WINDY
CONDITIONS CENTRAL AND W. NOTED KLVM AND KBIL WERE ALREADY GUSTING
THIS MORNING...AND EXPECT SUBSIDENCE BEHIND THE DEPARTING
SHORTWAVE TO AID IN GUSTY WINDS. THUS HAVE RAISED WIND SPEEDS
OVER THE CENTRAL AND W ZONES. NOT MUCH CLOUD COVER EXPECTED TODAY
WITH THE WAVE MOVING OUT AND CLOUDS CONFINED TO N OF CANADIAN
BORDER WITH THE ZONAL JET. GIVEN THE LIMITED CLOUD COVER AND GOOD
MIXING HAVE RAISED HIGH TEMPERATURES IN SEVERAL AREAS TOWARD THE
RUC GUIDANCE. DOWNSLOPE FLOW WILL ALSO SUPPORT HIGHER TEMPERATURES.
LOWERED CLOUD COVER IN THE GRIDS FOR TODAY. ARTHUR
&&
.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR TDY AND SUN...
SHORT WAVE TROUGH MOVING ACROSS OUR FORECAST AREA AT THIS TIME
ONLY ABLE TO PRODUCE SOME CLOUD COVER DUE TO DRY LOWER LEVELS.
WE WILL SLOWLY TRANSITION TO ZONAL FLOW BEHIND THIS WAVE BY
SUNDAY. LEE-SIDE SURFACE TROUGHING THROUGH THE WEEKEND WILL LEAD
TO WARMING WITH HIGHS IN THE LOWER TO MID 70S TODAY...FOLLOWED BY
UPPER 70S TO LOWER 80S SUNDAY. LOOK FOR STIFF W/SW WINDS LATE
MORNING THROUGH AFTERNOON EACH DAY...ESPECIALLY FROM BILLINGS WEST
TO LIVINGSTON. PROGGS INDICATE WIND DIRECTION WILL HAVE TOO MUCH
OF A WESTERLY COMPONENT FOR ANY SIGNIFICANT GAP EFFECTS AT
LIVINGSTON/NYE...BUT WILL CERTAINLY BE WINDY AT TIMES. BT
.LONG TERM...VALID FOR MON...TUE...WED...THU...FRI...
NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN THE EXTENDED OUTSIDE OF BORDER
COLLABORATION AND NEW PERIODS. MODELS CONTINUE IN GOOD
AGREEMENT...WITH GENERALLY WARM AND DRY CONDITIONS THROUGH THE
WORK WEEK...UNDER ZONAL FLOW ALOFT THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THAT
SAID...THERE IS A WEAK SHORTWAVE SLIDES ACROSS THE NORTHERN TIER
OF THE CWA MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY...WITH JUST ENOUGH ENERGY
THAT IT COULD BRING A SLIGHT CHANCE OF PRECIP IN THE EASTERN
ZONES. SOUTHWEST FLOW BEGINS TO RETURN TO THE REGION WEDNESDAY
NIGHT...AS THE REMNANTS OF THE SUB-TROPICAL SYSTEM LIFTING OUT OF
THE PACIFIC SOUTHWEST APPEAR TO REACH THE AREA. AT THIS TIME THIS
SYSTEM ONLY LOOKS LIKE IT WILL BRING SOME ISOLATED TO SCATTERED
MOUNTAIN PRECIP...AND AN ISOLATED CHANCE TO EASTERNMOST ZONES.
SOUTHWEST FLOW DEEPENS INTO THE WEEKEND IN ADVANCE OF THE
APPROACHING STRONG PACIFIC TROF...SO HAVE KEPT SOME SLIGHT
MOUNTAIN POPS IN PLACE IN THE MOUNTAINS.
THE REMAINDER OF THE PERIOD IS A BIT MORE UNCERTAIN. TIMING IS A
INCONSISTENT AMONGST MODELS WITH THE PROGRESSION OF THE
TROF...BUT IN GOOD AGREEMENT ON IMPACTING THE REGION OVER THE
WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE ECMWF DOES INDICATE A SLOWER
PROGRESSION WITH GREATER PRECIP POTENTIAL AT THIS TIME...BUT MUCH
CAN CHANGE IN A WEEK. AAG
&&
.AVIATION...
WINDS WILL BE INCREASING FROM WEST TO EAST THIS MORNING AND EARLY
AFTERNOON ACROSS ALL ROUTES. STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE IN AND AROUND
KLVM AND K6SO...WITH GUSTS OF 25 TO 35 KNOTS. GUSTS APPROACHING
20 KNOTS ACROSS EASTERN MONTANA...INCLUDING KBIL...KMLS...AND
KBHK. WINDS WILL TAPER OFF AGAIN THIS EVENING. OTHERWISE VFR
CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL OVER THE FEW DAYS...UNDER CLEAR TO PARTLY
CLOUDY SKIES. AAG/REIMER
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS...
TDY SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI
-------------------------------------------------------
BIL 076 050/080 053/077 048/078 054/080 053/080 053/082
0/B 00/B 01/B 11/B 11/B 12/T 22/T
LVM 071 043/078 046/075 043/078 047/079 047/079 048/080
0/N 00/N 02/W 11/U 11/B 22/T 23/T
HDN 077 045/082 048/080 046/081 051/082 050/083 050/085
0/B 00/B 01/B 11/B 12/W 11/B 11/B
MLS 076 049/081 052/078 048/080 052/081 053/080 053/085
0/B 00/U 01/U 22/W 11/B 12/W 12/T
4BQ 076 047/081 049/080 048/081 052/082 052/081 051/085
0/B 00/U 01/U 11/U 12/W 11/B 11/B
BHK 074 046/078 050/077 046/074 050/078 051/076 051/080
0/B 00/U 01/U 22/W 12/W 12/T 22/T
SHR 074 042/080 046/080 045/083 049/082 048/082 048/085
0/B 00/U 01/U 11/U 12/W 12/T 21/B
&&
.BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...NONE.
WY...NONE.
&&
WEATHER.GOV/BILLINGSWildfire, Northern Stillwater
- When
- September 19, 1:00 PM MST to September 20, 7:00 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)
A wildfire occurred just west of Columbus roughly around noon on Saturday, September 19th. Multiple resources that helped fight the fire were the Columbus, Park City, Nye and Absarokee Fire Departments, as well as the Carbon and Sweet Grass County DNRC. Fire suppression efforts from the ground and air with air tankers and helicopter drops were provided. The north end of the Countryman Creek Subdivision along Arrowhead Ridge Road, approximately five miles southwest of Columbus was evacuated. The fire threatened 15 to 20 homes with two of the homes being destroyed. The wildfire, which was human caused, burned approximately 700 acres.
- 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.
- Flash Flood in Arizona, September 19, 20151 death · $5,000 · 1 event
- High Wind in Montana, September 19 to 21, 201574 kt wind · 5 events
- Flash Flooding in Texas, September 19, 2015$9,000 · 3 events
- Flood in Iowa, September 19, 20151 event
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: 598147.