News – Sheridan Media
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Two years ago, the North-Central Wyoming area experienced a very wet year, and while that kept wildfires down to a minimum back then, in one sense, it backfired into 2024.
According to the National Weather Service Office in Billings, Montana more than 22 and 1/2 inches of precipitation was recorded at the Sheridan County Airport in 2023.
That made it the 5th wettest year on record, and it was the first time since 1955 that more than 20 inches of precipitation was recorded.
Andrew Cassiday is the Sheridan area District Conservationist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service.
He says the one downside to all that precipitation is that everything grew too much and in turn, created more fuel for the 2024 wildfire season.
“The downside of a good moisture year and a good grass year is you’ve got lots to burn and we saw that. The fuel loads were obviously adequate to carry a fire. We saw lots of places in Johnson County and Sheridan County last year. We’ll see what the current year brings and a lot of that country didn’t see a lot of regrowth last fall, because we became dry into the winter time and so we really need that spring moisture to make it happen.”
According to the latest manual snowpack readings as of the end of February 2025, the Tongue River Drainage area is at 94% compared to the 30-year average.
Readings at various locations range between 77% to 112%.
The Clear Creek Drainage area near Buffalo is at 65% of average, and the Powder River Drainage area is at about 74% of average.
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Last modified: March 10, 2025