Yellowstone National Park moves to HIGH fire danger level

West Yellowstone, Montana sits along the western boundary of Yellowstone National Park near it’s northwest corner. The town, one of the major launching points for many trips into the park itself, owns the notorious record for the all-time lowest temperature in a US residential community in the lower 48 states – a staggering -66 degrees Fahrenheit back in the winter of 1933.

That’s not to say it doesn’t get warm there in the summers, however. Average high temperatures reach over 79 degrees in West Yellowstone every July, per Weatherbase, with overall summer warmth usually enough to melt the snowpack off completely by early May. It’s a similar story with other towns around the park, such as Gardiner, Montana and Jackson, Wyoming – both of whom feature July average highs hovering around 79-80 degrees.

Temperatures in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) have already been warmer than average this spring and early summer, prompting early high flows (and dangers river rescues) along the Snake River, as well as its many tributaries. Those temperatures are expected to continue this week in the region, with highs of over 90 degrees expected in Gardiner and Jackson (and near 90 in West Yellowstone) for each of the next trio of days.

If this were the first real heat wave of the year, it’s likely that the rangers at Yellowstone would be cautiously optimistic that there would be no serious danger of fire as the land heated up and dried out. It’s not, though, and as SnoFlo.com Snotel chart for West Yellowstone indicates, this past winter’s snowpack – which was already roughly half of its level during the winter of 2022-2023 – melted off completely by April 28th.

When there’s already less moisture in the ground than usual and the expected temperatures are rocketing past their usual levels, that’s a recipe for drying out the land into a dangerous tinderbox. With that in mind, Yellowstone officially moved their fire danger level to HIGH on Wednesday in anticipation of said conditions.

It should be noted that there are no additional fire restrictions that have put in place as of yet, per the National Park Service’s press release; this is simply a way of heightening awareness of the possibility of fires to those who are recreating within the park this weekend. Given that the two-week advanced forecast for West Yellowstone shows nary a single day with a high temperature at (or below) average and that there’s no significant chance of rain in that time, it’s looking more and more likely that there will be fire restrictions enacted at some point soon, however.

A quick glance at the US Drought Monitor shows that most of the GYE is either ‘Abnormally Dry’ or in the lowest stage of Drought at the moment, though that weather forecast sure makes it look like it’s headed more to the drier end of the spectrum than the wetter.

There’s always the chance that could change, and the usual summer thunderstorms that pop up within the park and its surroundings could bring some much needed moisture back to the area. That said, it’s those same storms that are often responsible for the lightning that sparks the very fires of concern.

If you’re planning to be in or around the park in the coming days, make sure you’ve got plenty of water to stay hydrated and some shade to escape the sun. If you’re camping – and intending to have a campfire – practice Leave No Trace principles and be extra, extra sure you’ve doused (and double-doused) your fire before leaving it unattended.