In his most recent July-through-October wildfire outlook, Meteorologist Dan Borsum said the recent storms tamped down southwest Montana’s fire potential from "above-normal" to "normal."
“The timing of this system, being at the very end of June, does support a delay in curing in a lot of areas.”
Borsum is a Meteorologist for the U.S. Wildfire Service. He says recent precipitation, combined with June’s cool temperatures have quashed the fire potential from "normal" to "below normal" in north-west and north-central Montana.
“There could be some moisture that comes up here in August to continue that trend of really lower fire potential, but that’s not 100-percent certain at this time," he says.
Borsum says last month’s generally cool temperatures east of the Divide suggest the fire potential there should be subdued, at least until the end of July. He emphasizes "normal" fire potential still means fire is possible.
Experts say three quarters of last summer’s wildfires were human-caused. Montanans are urged to recreate responsibly.
