Montana drought update

Since we are getting quite a few calls about this from hunters, figured some folks on here might be interested in seeing the latest drought update from NOAA...

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/byz/pdf/Aug2017WeatherReadyBriefing.pdf

Slide 8 is interesting - this is the driest year so far on record for 22 of the 37 Eastern Montana climate monitoring stations. 4 of those stations have 123 years of data, if that helps some folks gauge the magnitude of drought conditions this year.

Be careful out there!

I lived in Lolo in 2000 which was a big fire year with public lands closed statewide
and have been watching the Lolo Peak Fire progression.

Missoula's forecast looks mostly clear and hot for the next ten days.
Not good....mid 90s forecast for Tues/Weds

Thanks for the update. Looks pretty parched where I'll be in Oct...

Yesterday an DNRC employee accidentally started a fire with an ATV south of Dillon...burnt 3000 acres already. Fingers crossed for rain soon.

I've stopped field work nearly a month early and am dreading what antelope hunting will be like without some rain in the next month

It's bad. Heard on the radio we have a chance of 1" of rain today/tonight but it will be in a thunderstorm. We'll see what happens.

In 2000, there was an emergency order and no fishing, rafting, camping, hunting, etc. was allowed on public lands.

I lived up Sleeman Gulch and they had a manned barricade at the entrance and only allowed residents up the road.
Could not fly fish the entire month of August.
Smoke everyday made hiking with a pack to stay in shape difficult.
For opening day of grouse I had to go to Idaho since Montana was closed Sept 1.

Is there any talk of closing public access like they did in 2000?

Fire weather forecast looks bad...

MTZ106-108-271030-
West Lolo-East Lolo-
417 AM MDT Sat Aug 26 2017

.TODAY...
* Sky/Weather.........Sunny. Areas of smoke.
* Max Temperature.....80-85 valleys and 70-80 ridges.
* Min Humidity.......15-20 percent ridges.
* 20-Foot Winds.......
* Ridge Top............West 5-15 mph.


.TONIGHT...
* Sky/Weather.........Clear. Areas of smoke.
* Min Temperature.....35-45 valleys and 55-65 ridges.
* Max Humidity........28-38 percent ridges.
* 20-Foot Winds....... Northwest 5-15 mph decreasing in the evening.

.SUNDAY...
* Sky/Weather.........Sunny. Areas of smoke.
* Max Temperature.....85-95 valleys and 80-85 ridges.
* Min Humidity........ Ridges: 14-18 percent.
* 20-Foot Winds....... Ridge Top............Southwest up to 5 mph.

.MONDAY...Clear. Areas of smoke. Lows 55-65. Highs 85-95. Diurnal
terrain winds to 10 mph.
.TUESDAY...Partly cloudy with slight chance of showers and thunderstorms.
Areas of smoke. Lows 55-65. Highs 85-95. Southeast winds 5-10 mph.
.WEDNESDAY...Partly cloudy with slight chance of showers and thunderstorms.
Areas of smoke. Lows 55-65. Highs 85-95. Diurnal terrain winds to 10 mph.
.THURSDAY...Partly cloudy. Areas of smoke. Slight chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Lows 55-65. Highs 80-90.
.FRIDAY...Mostly clear. Areas of smoke. Lows 50-60. Highs 80-90.

Thursday night's lightning storm was intense! Resulted in two small fires on the mountain across the road from us. We watched a small twin engine plane, a helicopter, and seven smoke jumpers attack the fires yesterday afternoon. We'll see what happens today...

We need Rain, rain and more rain!

AlaskaHunter said:

Is there any talk of closing public access like they did in 2000?

Click to expand...

Given that we are only a week out, I *think* public land agencies would have mounted a pretty serious media campaign by now if widespread closures were likely. I haven't heard of anything from my colleagues further West. We have not been advised of any potential closures in our part of NE Montana at this time, but we are trying to let people know about the extreme conditions and asking them to be extra cautious. We've had a few showers the last couple of weeks...not enough to make things better, but enough to keep them from getting worse. Forecast continues to look hot and dry though.

Last year up here, quite a few landowners stopped allowing access, and some closed their BMA's due to fire danger for a few weeks. It's worse this year, so I kind of expect to see more of that.

Hunting Wife said:

Given that we are only a week out, I *think* public land agencies would have mounted a pretty serious media campaign by now if widespread closures were likely. I haven't heard of anything from my colleagues further West. We have not been advised of any potential closures in our part of NE Montana at this time, but we are trying to let people know about the extreme conditions and asking them to be extra cautious. We've had a few showers the last couple of weeks...not enough to make things better, but enough to keep them from getting worse. Forecast continues to look hot and dry though.

Last year up here, quite a few landowners stopped allowing access, and some closed their BMA's due to fire danger for a few weeks. It's worse this year, so I kind of expect to see more of that.

Click to expand...

Thanks.

I remember August of 2000, no rafting, no fly fishing, no camping, etc.

Yesterday I saw knapweed and toadflax dieing before they went to seed. It is extremely dry. The Liberty fire between Arlee and Seely was looking like it was getting serious. More hot weather predicted for this week. Be smart out there.

Drift smoke hanging in the air for days (now weeks) on end can also have its effects on us older outdoorsmen. My wife has slight asthma that ordinarily doesn't bother her a bit but after a couple weeks of smoke it really started to hit her hard. Likewise my 67-year-old neighbor who's missing half a lung is having a hell of a time doing much physical activity out in it, too. Just something to consider if you have some kind of respiratory condition and plan on recreating out here.