Looks like fire season might be less exciting than usual this year . . .
Officials are predicting a mild wildlfire season for Montana.
Forecasters and fire officials from eight state and federal agencies gave Gov. Steve Bullock their annual wildfire outlook briefing Monday in Missoula.
This is a bit like discussing the World Series after the first few games of the regular season but, for what it’s worth, there’s a chance we might have a mild fire season around here this year . . .
It looks to be a busy fire year, but not around here.
Continuing drought and poor snowpack have the nation’s southern states and large parts of the Midwest bracing for smoke and flames as spring moves into summer, according to Ed Delgado of the National Interagency Fire Center. Delgado heads the center’s National Predictive Services Program.
“One of the things we’re having to deal with is the uncertainty in global circulation patterns,” Delgado said during a national teleconference on Thursday. “Whether we transition into a neutral or an El Niño pattern will have dramatically different outcomes for the potential for fire.”
In his column this week, Larry Wilson discusses the fire season and getting ready for colder weather . . .
A few weeks ago, I wrote that it looked like there would not be much of a fire season on the North Fork. Like all politicians and most columnists, I did add a disclaimer – unless we have unusually dry weather. So far I am sticking with my original opinion. No big fire season on the North Fork in 2011. However, I’m going to expand on my disclaimer.
The Missoulian posted this item late yesterday. I’d take it with a grain of salt, especially the “extended summer” bit . . .
Although September is but a week away and students are returning to school, summer weather and wildfire season in Montana is far from over.
In fact, “we are hitting our peak right now,” said Brian Henry, a fire weather forecaster and meteorologist at the Northern Rockies Coordination Center.
“The next two weeks will be the most active part of our season and computer models tell us we will have an extended summer into September, and the fire season will likely linger before going to sleep on us.”