Red Flag Warning Issued for South Central Montana
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NWS Billings MT has issued a Red Flag Warning for critical fire weather conditions from noon to 8 PM MDT Thursday across multiple counties and fire zones.
Read this weather record in 30 seconds
- Record type
- Red Flag Warning
- Affected area
- South Central Montana
- Issued
- September 9, 2026
- Issuing authority
- NWS Billings MT
Fire-weather notices describe conditions that can support rapid fire spread; they do not report that a fire is present. Check local emergency sources for any active incident.
Record status: publication date is recent, but current status is not stored on this page. Check the issuing agency's live warning service before acting because warnings can be updated, narrowed, or cancelled.
Alert Details
Red Flag Warning issued by NWS Billings MT. Effective from 2026-09-10T12:00:00-06:00 to 2026-09-10T20:00:00-06:00. The National Weather Service in Billings has upgraded the Fire Weather Watch to a Red Flag Warning.
Affected Areas
Gallatin National Forest; Wheatland County/Sweet Grass County; Golden Valley County/Musselshell County. Counties affected: Golden Valley, Musselshell, Wheatland, Park, Sweet Grass, Gallatin. South Central MT Fire Zones 123, 124, 127.
What You Should Do
A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now, or will shortly. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior. Prepare accordingly.
Expected Conditions
Low humidities, unseasonably warm temperatures, and strong gusty winds will create erratic fire behavior. Wind: West 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 40 mph. Humidity: As low as 10 percent. Temperatures: In the 80s. The worst conditions are expected across lower elevations that have received little precipitation in the past week.
Timeline
Alert sent and effective 2026-09-09T10:21:00-06:00. Onset 2026-09-10T12:00:00-06:00. Expires 2026-09-10T10:30:00-06:00. Ends 2026-09-10T20:00:00-06:00.
Original source: NOAA Official Notice ↗
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Two Areazine-derived peer sets for this NWS weather alert: nearest notices by body length and by same severity near the same agency date. Peers come from other categories so they are not the same-feed Related list above.
Similar body length
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Similar severity timing
Same severity (high) notices issued closest in time to September 9, 2026.
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