Name: Wildfire in Montana, July 16 to 24, 2022
Start: 2022-07-16T04:45
End: 2022-07-24T07:00
Location: Montana

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 TFX wrote it up.

Hot afternoon temperatures and yet another round of afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms were expected over Southwest and portions of Central Montana. Max temperature was 94 at 2:44 PM, with RH at 23% as of 2:00 PM, and wind gusts just above 20 mph. Lightning activity, in union with the aforementioned variables, and heavy timber fuels in the Moors Mountain led to a wildfire.

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 Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 16, 4:38 AM MST, 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 16, 4:38 AM MST, 7 minutes before

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Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Southern Lewis and Clark

When: July 16, 4:45 AM MST to July 24, 7:00 AM MST
Where: Southern Lewis and Clark forecast zone
Reported by: Park/Forest Service

The Moors Mountain Fire, first reported on July 16th at approximately 3:45 PM near the Moors Mountains in Gates of the Mountain Wilderness, was a 98 acre wildfire caused by lightning. On July 24th, crews achieved 100% containment. More than 80 personnel worked out of spike camps in the Gates of the Mountain Wilderness, for multiple operational periods, and were supported by helicopter operations to supply the camps and to provide fire suppression. Crews utilized handlines which were tied into natural features, such as rock formations, to minimize the impact on the wilderness area.

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 2022 Every state in 2022 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, July 2022

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1032780.