National Preparedness Level 1

as of November 4 at 2 p.m. MDT (on a scale from 1 to 5)

Current hours for the National Fire Information Center are
(MST) 8:00 am - 4:30pm, Monday - Friday
208-387-5050

This report will be updated on Fridays.
Please check the IMSR for more information.

January 10, 2020

Six new large fires were reported this week Firefighters are working toward containment goals on large fires in Colorado, Georgia, and Oklahoma.

As wildfires continue to burn in Australia, the United States is sending additional U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) wildfire personnel to assist with ongoing wildfire suppression efforts in Australia.

Based on requests from the Australian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council, the U.S. has intermittently deployed more than 159 wildland USFS and DOI fire personnel throughout December and early January. The Council has also requested another group of personnel and the DOI and USFS are currently working to send those individuals as soon as possible. The U.S. firefighters are filling critical wildfire and aviation management roles in New South Wales and Victoria. 

Learn more about the Australian Mobilization.

Weather

A weather pattern altering low-pressure system will move southeast along the western coast of British Columbia Friday spreading snow into the Pacific Northwest and western portions of the Northern Rockies by afternoon. As the system moves inland along the Canadian Border on Saturday, cold Arctic air will move south from central Canada into Montana, Idaho and Wyoming spreading further southwest into the Great Basin by Sunday. The center of the system will stall over southern Alberta and Saskatchewan and will linger through Tuesday. This will allow for a cold and snowy pattern to continue across the northwestern quarter of the country as snow reaches as far south as the northern Sierra by Monday and Tuesday. As the system begins to move east toward the western portion of the Great Lakes late Wednesday, another strong system will approach the coast of California bringing more middle and upper elevation snowfall and moderate to heavy valley rainfall. Looking elsewhere, a weak but moist cold front will develop along the Mississippi River on Friday and move east toward the coast on Saturday and early Sunday. Widespread wetting rainfall is expected with this system. After this system passes, several days of dry conditions are expected since the next system is not expected to pass until Thursday.

Colorado (1)
Georgia (1)
Oklahoma (2)