A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.
All the files have been moved to Helena and the office is being cleaned out. The Fork Peck office, and in Wyoming, the Casper office, also are being closed. No word on whether people are losing their jobs, or if their misery will be limited to living in Helena. I think this is a beancounter move, not a wise move. We need more field offices and streamflow gauging stations, not fewer offices and measurements.
Fires and fireworks. Lake County is considering a ban on fireworks, reports the InterLake. In the state of Washington, when a wildfire flashed through four square miles inside Wenatchee, county officials claim they lack the power to ban fireworks. Just like some of their colleagues in Montana, they certainly lack the political will.
Glacier Rim Fire. According to news reports, it started in a gravel pit. In a gravel pit! How in blue blazes does a forest fire start in a gravel pit? A Biblical ignition?
Boiled trout. Over the weekend, the North Fork’s water temperature reached 66°F. Trout like water that warm about as much as they like hot butter in a frying pan. If this hot weather persists, by the end of summer we will, figuratively speaking, be able to go down to the river to net boiled cutthroat.
Catastrophic fires require three things: (1) a long dry spell that leaves forests tinder dry, (2) a source of ignition; lightning, arcing powerlines, fireworks, etc., and (3) high winds. The forests are tinder dry. Now it’s just a matter of a spark and a roaring wind.
Swan River below minimum enforceable flows again. A fair amount of water has came down the Swan earlier this year, but now the snowpack’s melted and no rain is falling. The Swan is running very low. Later today, or more likely, tomorrow, I’ll post graphs of the Swan in previous dry year. Meanwhile, here’s the hydrograph for 2015 plotted against norms and the MEF:
