The lightning-caused Elk Fire started near Riley Point and West Pass in the Bighorn National Forest. m.
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.
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.
The episode as NWS BYZ wrote it up.
The lightning-caused Elk Fire started near Riley Point and West Pass in the Bighorn National Forest. The fire was detected at 4:00 p.m. MDT on Friday, September 27th. Air attack and ground crews initially responded, which included retardant and bucket drops from airtankers and a helicopter. Hand crews and more resources arrived shortly thereafter. The Elk Fire burned in heavy, dead and down timber. The terrain is rough and remote which made it challenging for firefighters to get in or out of the incident. Shortly after the fire started, a closure for the area took place to protect the safety of firefighters and visitors traveling forest roads and trails. In addition, US Highway 14 in both directions from Burgess Junction to Dayton, Wyoming was closed for a period of time. As of this writing, 96,197 acres have burned and the fire was 48% contained. |For more detailed information, please see https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/wybhf-elk-fire-2024.
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 27, 12:22 PM MST, 3 hours 38 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Billings MT
122 PM MDT Fri Sep 27 2024
.KEY MESSAGES...
- Warm and dry into Sunday.
- Hot, dry and windy conditions will bring fire weather concerns
to portions of the area on Sunday.
- Record high temperatures possible Sunday.
- Cooler conditions return Monday.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
The rest of today through Saturday night...
Heights will continue to build into Saturday, keeping conditions
warm and dry. Winds are expected to remain fairly light over most
of the region, with the highest gusts expected to reach 20-30 mph
near the Dakota border Saturday afternoon.
Lows tonight are expected in the mid 40s to mid 50s. Then, highs
on Saturday will be in the 80s to low 90s, with lows in the 50s to
low 60s. Archer
Sunday through Friday...
Main forecast concerns are on hot, dry and breezy conditions Sunday
with record high temperatures a possibility for some locations.
Focus then turns to strong winds Sunday night through Monday.
A cold front is expected to sweep through the region later in the
day on Sunday but before it does expect unseasonably warm
temperatures across the area. There is a 75 percent chance that
high temperatures could reach or exceed 90 degrees at KBIL on
Sunday. Even warmer highs are expected at KSHR with an 83 percent
chance of highs reaching or exceeding 95 degrees.
A cold front moves through the region Sunday afternoon into Sunday
evening with increasing northwest winds. Sunday evening through
Monday will be a windy and much cooler period with highs on Monday
only making it into the upper 50 to lower 60s, cooler in the
mountains. Looking more closely at potential max wind gust speeds
Sunday evening into the overnight, there is an 80 percent chance
that wind speeds will reach or exceed 35 mph.
Looking out further in the forecast at WPC clusters, there is fairly
good agreement in the 500 mb pattern favoring northwesterly flow
early next week, turning more zonal by midweek. Anticipate mild
temperatures and it's unlikely that we will see any significant
precipitation next week.
&&
.AVIATION...
VFR conditions are expected through the TAF period. Areas of
increasing smoke from wildfires will cause decreased slant range
visibility.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS...
Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 052/083 054/092 048/062 038/071 049/070 040/062 039/071
00/U 00/U 00/U 00/B 00/B 10/B 10/U
LVM 047/085 051/088 040/062 033/074 044/073 033/064 035/073
00/U 00/N 00/U 00/B 00/B 11/B 10/B
HDN 049/087 051/095 047/063 035/072 043/071 038/064 037/074
00/U 00/U 00/U 00/B 00/B 10/B 10/U
MLS 052/088 055/093 050/059 038/068 045/067 040/061 038/070
00/U 00/U 00/N 00/B 00/B 01/B 00/B
4BQ 052/091 061/095 051/064 039/071 046/070 039/063 040/074
00/U 00/U 00/U 00/B 00/U 01/B 00/U
BHK 050/088 055/094 047/064 034/071 042/070 037/062 035/069
00/U 00/U 00/N 00/B 00/B 00/B 00/B
SHR 051/091 052/096 045/064 033/073 043/075 036/064 035/077
00/U 00/U 00/U 00/B 00/U 01/B 10/U
&&
.BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...None.
WY...None.
&&
weather.gov/billingsThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
Please see Episode Narrative.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wyoming in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, September 2024
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: 1211675.