GREAT FALLS — July is typically the month when it starts to dry out here in Big Sky Country and wildfires become a big concern.
But this year, some Montana communities have experienced the wettest July in years, including in Great Falls, which has received more than 1.7" of rain, the most since 2012.
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But what impact does all this mid-summer rain have on our fire season?
This July has been a tale of two extremes. Record-shattering rainfall in some parts of the state and exceptionally dry weather in others.
Jane Fogelman, the senior service hydrologist for all of Montana east of the Divide, cautioned that while the rain may have short-term benefits, the potential for an active fire season remains.
"We'll expect to have maybe fewer fires, or fires that are easier to control," said Fogelman.
"Once we do get back into the warmer and drier days of August, then we're really just expecting to see that the benefits of this precipitation don't continue to last through the summer," Fogelman also noted.
The National Interagency Fire Center continues to highlight an above-normal significant wildfire potential across Montana for August and September.
"The moisture has also fallen late in the season, it's fallen at a time when grasses have already seeded," Fogelman said.
Fire season in Montana generally reaches its peak between late July and mid-August after a relatively cooler and wetter July.
Current outlooks project hot and dry weather to take hold in August.
