Wildfire concerns are mounting in North Dakota again, with breezy conditions and little rain in the forecast this week.
Meanwhile, the 2024 growing season has officially come to an end in the region.
Wind gusts in the western and central regions through Thursday are forecast to surpass 30 mph in some areas, according to the National Weather Service. Critical fire weather conditions are expected and a red flag warning is posted for far south central and southeastern North Dakota on Wednesday afternoon, when humidity levels are forecast to drop to as low as 20%.
Winds on Tuesday were gusting in excess of 25 mph in many areas and surpassing 40 mph in others, according to Weather Service data.
There is a slight chance of showers in the west on Thursday and Friday, but that is the only possible precipitation in the state forecast. As of Monday, it had been 21 days since the last rainfall in Bismarck, Williston and Jamestown, 26 days in Minot and 27 days in Dickinson, according to the Weather Service.
Minot received about 2 inches of rain in September and Williston received three-fourths of an inch, but Bismarck and Dickinson received only about one-fifth of an inch, the Weather Service said. Bismarck’s yearly precipitation total is more than 2 inches below normal, at just under 15 inches. Dickinson’s annual total to date is more than 3 inches below average, at about 11 inches.
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A 1969 Northwest Rotorcraft LLC UH-1H Rotorcraft helicopter flies over Watford City to refill the bucket hanging below with water before heading back out to the wildfires on Oct. 8.
Wildfires in North Dakota this season have burned more than 136,000 acres, according to the state Forest Service. That’s more acreage than in 2021 — a particularly bad year in recent memory — when wildfires in the state blackened about 126,000 acres.
Much of this year’s burned acreage has come this month.
Six major fires in the northwest earlier this month fueled by winds gusting to 80 mph burned as much as 118,000 acres, or about 185 square miles. Two are still active — the Bear Den Fire near Mandaree and the Elkhorn Fire near Grassy Butte were 85% and 75% contained on Tuesday. Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation Chairman Mark Fox on Tuesday issued a statement of thanks to everyone who has helped battle the Bear Den Fire on the Fort Berthold Reservation.
The fires threatened communities, prompted evacuations, shut down portions of highways, damaged or destroyed homes, rural outbuildings and vehicles, killed livestock, damaged more than 500 power poles and cut electricity to thousands of people. Two people died — ranchhand Nicolaas van Eeden, 26, of South Africa, and Edgar Coppersmith, 47, of Tioga — and six others were injured.
The Double Ditch Fire north of Bismarck over the weekend scorched 1,100 acres but caused no major damage or injuries. The fire’s size was originally estimated at 2,300 acres but was later reduced.
Authorities are still working to determine the causes of all of those fires.
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Scorched land stretches for miles outside of Tioga on Monday.
Nearly all of western North Dakota including most of Morton County is in some form of drought, including extreme drought in the far west, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a partnership of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Drought Mitigation Center and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
It’s been not only dry but hot — Bismarck, Minot and Jamestown all set records for highest average temperature for the month of September, according to climate statistics from the Weather Service. Bismarck last Wednesday also tied its record high temperature for Oct. 9 of 87 degrees, previously set in 1955.
A North Dakota Department of Emergency Services map that tracks active wildfires across the state is at NDResponse.gov/firemonitor.
An online resource hub set up by Emergency Services to aid wildfire victims can be accessed at https://bit.ly/4eBfRiB.
More information about burn restrictions and fire danger is at ndresponse.gov/burn. Nearly all western, central and southeastern North Dakota counties including Burleigh and Morton have implemented some form of burn ban. Fire restrictions also are in place on U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management lands in the state. The fire danger rating on Tuesday was “high” or “very high” across all of North Dakota except the northeastern corner.
Growing season ends
Meanwhile, the local 2024 growing season came to an end Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.
A widespread hard freeze — temperatures of 28 degrees or less for three or more hours — was observed across much of western and central North Dakota, according to the agency.
The Weather Service office in Bismarck will no longer issue frost advisories, freeze watches or freeze warnings this fall. The service will resume next spring at the start of the local growing season.
Double Ditch Fire
A North Dakota Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter responded to the Double Ditch Fire north of Bismarck on Oct. 12, 2024.
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