August weather was seasonably mild

The August 2019 weather in Powder River County could best be described as "mild". In Broadus, the thermometer didn't break the triple digit mark during the month, in fact we have yet to see a 100-degree day in 2019. The latest in the year a triple digit temperature was recorded in Broadus was on September 14th. This 100 degree high record occurred in 1948.

Grasshoppers are out in force, with all sizes of the pesky insects darting out from underfoot. Due to the heavy rains earlier in the year prompting great grass growth, the grasshopper damage to grass and crops in August has caused minimal economic damage. With an unknown time left until freeze-up, the potential for damage is still very much a threat.

Precipitation across the area was spotty in August, with extremely varied amounts of rain depending on storm tracks. Broadus received 1.22" of rain on the month, compared to 1.13" normally. The Powderville 8 miles NW station received 2.62" on the month, with 1.35" falling in one day, on August 4th. The Sonnette 7 miles SW station reported 1.10" for August, though reports of over an inch of rain over the course of three days (from August 23-25) came in from just over the divide, in the Ten Mile Creek drainage. The Moorhead 9 miles NE station was the winner for the month, with 3.46" of rain. The Biddle 8 miles SW and Volborg stations showed incomplete data for the month, receiving 1.19" in Volborg over 20 reported days, and .74" over 23 reported days at the Biddle station.

Temperatures topped out at 97 in Broadus on August 4th, and sunk as low as 40, on August 28th. Other weather stations in town noted temps in the upper 30s, on August 28th.

The Moorhead station achieved temps of 94 as a high, on the 3rd and 8th, and dropped down to 41 on the 28th.

The Powderville station reached 96 as a high, on August 1st, dropping to 39 on the 28th.

The Sonnette station reached 92 as a high, on August 19th, dropping down to 38 on the 29th, with temps of 39 recorded on the 27th and 28th.

The Biddle station reached 96 on August 19th, with a low for the month of 43 on August 28th.

The relatively mild conditions of August and fairly minimal lightning, along with green grass and precipitation kept fire conditions to a minimum. The fires which did occur from lightning remained small and infrequent. While most of the fires in our local area amounted to not more than a few acres, dryer conditions to our west helped spawn the 1100 acre Victor fire, 28 miles southwest of Ashland. This fire erupted on August 15th, and was controlled on August 21.

With September starting out warm and dry, and grass drying out, conditions are prime for fires – residents are encouraged to continue to be wary of starting a fire. In 2011, a wet year and late summer storms caused several large fires in late August and September; the heavy fuel loads leftover from 2011 became a major factor in the 2012 extreme fire year.