High wind forecast to reverse direction
The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for Northwest Montana from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. today.
The warning is primarily intended to put fire officials on alert, signaling that conditions are ripe for easy ignition and fast-growing wildfires.
“The area has reached a critical threshold of low humidities and gusty winds, and we’re looking at that in combination with the extreme fuels and how dry everything is,” said LeeAnn Allegretto, a meteorologist at the agency’s Missoula office.
Beginning around sunrise and increasing through the day, winds are forecast from 15 to 30 miles per hour, with gusts potentially reaching 40 miles per hour. The Weather Service is anticipating humidity in the single digits to low teens.
Potentially complicating firefighting efforts, the wind will undergo a 180-degree shift around 7 p.m.
Allegretto said the wind will shift from the west to the east, driven by a front moving south from Alberta and crossing over the Continental Divide.
The Weather Service said the red-flag conditions could allow “explosive fire growth.”
Predicted winds were a primary factor in cancellation of community fireworks shows in Flathead County, where fire danger is “very high.”
All fireworks are banned in Flathead County as well as other counties in Western Montana.
A Stage 1 fire restriction is also in effect throughout Western Montana, meaning certain activities, such as building campfires or smoking outdoors, are restricted.
The Glacier Rim fire continues to smolder north of Columbia Falls, where 104 fire personnel had it 50 percent contained as of Friday afternoon.
Crews continue to reinforce lines with sprinklers and water pumps, but suppression in the fire’s 85-acre interior has been thwarted by the presence of large, falling snags that pose a risk to firefighters. The fire is located within the area burned when the Robert Fire swept through the area in 2003.
No extra resources had been ordered up to the fire in light of today’s predicted conditions, but all local fire personnel are remaining on call.
Reporter Samuel Wilson can be reached at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.