Winter Weather May End Fire Season

Good news for this very active wildfire season – the rain and snow this weekend has brought some relief for weary firefighters battling blazes throughout the western states.
The Public Affairs office in Yellowstone National Park sent out a release Friday noting that the fire danger in the Park has been downgraded from High to Moderate, thanks to the recent moisture and more to come. Additionally, the BLM announced that fire restrictions had been lifted on all public lands within Big Horn, Fremont, Hot Springs, Park and Washakie counties.
The colder, wetter weather comes as a welcome relief for the thousands of firefighters battling the blazes in the northwest part of the United States. The U.S. Forest Service has spent more than 2 billion dollars battling forest fires across the country – that’s a record amount for one fire season. As of last week, there were 64 large fires burning across 10 states, with 21 in Montana.
The National Weather Service says the rain and snow western Montana is getting should continue through this week, and will potentially end this year’s fire season. Meteorologist Jenn Kitsmiller expects the weather will clear out smoke from the region and slow down fire activity.
The East Entrance road was closed temporarily this weekend due to the snow that fell in the mountains, but all roads in Yellowstone are open as of this morning. Beartooth Pass was still closed as of yesterday morning, due to blowing and drifting snow.