Not that I'm panicking

Here's the current weather forecast for Saturday. I'm running a marathon that day, apparently. Unless I fall apart first.

Overnight low Friday is supposed to be 47. That's colder than it's been in Minnesota for quite some time. I've got the marathon outfit picked out and packed, with the exception of the fleece arm sleeves that I experimented with this morning. Note: you don't need fleece sleeves when it's 70 and humid. They didn't seem to chafe and weren't annoying when I shoved them down to my wrists. I still have regular packing to do and a ton of hostas to plant tonight before we go to flyball class.



The National Weather Service says: 


Friday Night: Clear, with a low around 46. 

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 78. 


Weather Underground says:


Friday night low: 45
Saturday high: 77


Accuweather says:


Friday night low: 43
Saturday high: 78

Fire update

The Hole in the Wall Fire grew to 4491 acres yesterday and is at 10% containment. Downdrafts from an unanticipated thunder-cell fanned areas of firing operation that was completed earlier in the afternoon. The fire has crossed into Montana and is burning in North Line Creek, in steep and rugged terrain. A fire weather watch is in effect today, from this afternoon through this evening; thunderstorms will move north of the fire area and may produce gusty winds from the northwest and north.

A Type 2 Incident Management Team, Rocky Mountain Team C, has assumed command. At this morning's operational briefing Incident Commander, Joe Lowe, was very appreciative of the hard work completed by Russ Wenke's Type 3 Incident Command Team. Firefighter and public safety will continue to be the number one priority with an emphasis on stopping the forward progression to the North and establishing anchor points on either side of the fire. This morning the fire is being mapped from the air to verify the perimeter.

Approximately 222 personnel are staffing the fire including nine engines, three twenty-person hotshot crews, eight helicopters and one Air Attack. Additional resources have been ordered and are enroute.

Basic Information

Incident Type	Wildfire
Cause	Lightning
Date of Origin	Sunday August 21st, 2011 approx. 07:00 PM
Location	betweeen North Bennett and Line Creek drainages
Incident Commander	Joe Lowe

Current Situation

Total Personnel	327
Size	5,764 acres
Percent Contained	50%
Fuels Involved	10 Timber (litter and understory) Higher elevation - bug killed douglas fir and lodgepole Lower elevation - sage grass and juniper
Fire Behavior	Running, crowning, and spotting.
Significant Events	Started preping line in Robinson Gulch for burnout in the next 48 hours.

Outlook

Planned Actions	Continued to prep final burnout line.
Growth Potential	High
Terrain Difficulty	Extreme
Remarks	Line held along Line Creek Plateau, significantly reducing the threat to the community of Red Lodge

Current Weather

Wind Conditions	27 max mph W
Temperature	77 degrees
Humidity	17%

Hole in the Wall Fire

Got a text from the firefighter last night - Fire went really big. Aerial ignition mistake. Scary we had to run.

After several more texts last night and one this morning, he's ok and they're working hard.

The official version isn't updated for today yet. Here's yesterday's update:

The lightning-ignited Hole in the Wall Fire continues to burn in very steep, rugged terrain. The fire has reached 3600 acres. Due to the fire behavior today the percentage of containment has decreased from 20 percent to 10 percent.

The fire was projected to cross Line Creek within the next twenty four hours; therefore the decision was made to conduct aerial ignition operations. Fire management felt that doing the burnout operations under controllable conditions would lessen fire intensity and prevent the fire from crossing Line Creek. After the burnout was completed a thunderstorm caused erratic strong downdraft winds pushing the fire west across Line Creek.

At this time the fire has reached the divide on the Line Creek Plateau between Line Creek and the head of Corral Creek.

Residents on the eastern and southern sides of the fire should expect heavy smoke.

As a precautionary measure, local Fire Departments have been patrolling the rural residential areas. The Carbon County Sheriff has issued an evacuation notice for the Robertson Draw, Ruby Creek and Gold Creek areas.

Trail closures include, Line Creek Plateau, Corral Creak Trail 9, Maurice Creek Trail 6, North Grove Trail, Face of the Mountain 7, and Robertson Draw 5 have been closed to public access. Forest Road 123, Line Creek Road, and South Grove Road are closed for public safety. All other roads remain open at this time.

A transfer of command took place at 8:00 pm this evening from the Type III Incident Command Team, Russ Wenke Incident Commander, to the Rocky Mountain Type II Team C, Joe Lowe Incident Commander.

Flowers times 2

The morning glories are growing up the roses again. They also grow up a downspout, but that doesn't make quite as nice a picture.

The dog pulled me over again on Tuesday, after having pulled me over a week earlier on Sunday. Yes, I suppose it would help if my feet weren't quite so clumsy. I don't think that's going to happen any time soon. I've got some good road rash because she dragged me a bit (hands free leashes are a wonderful thing until you realize you are attached to your dog). I took yesterday off, but managed 5 miles this morning and it was fine. I'm headed to the chiropractor this afternoon, though. My neck seems to be giving me a headache today and I'm a little hunched over to the left (you'd think I would have evened out, I fell on my right side last time).

Concert & storm

C and I went to the Brandi Carlile concert at the zoo on Saturday. It was awesome, as usual. I've seen her live four (?) times now, and wow can that skinny girl ever sing. I didn't buy her latest album, though. I heard a couple of tracks from it and didn't like it much. No new songs, because it was a live recording, and oddly enough she wasn't in good voice for that performance.

We had gigantic thunderstorms last night. A big branch was down in the front yard this morning from the maple tree. It is really heavy and I'm glad it didn't land on the house! Blue has decided to develop a thunder phobia, so she laid right next to me during the storm. At least she wasn't trying to climb under my pillow!

Garden shots

First baby eggplant

Same eggplant a week later

Cherokee Purple & other tomatoes

Runner bean flowers

Things are growing in the garden! Some of the tomato plants are taller than I am and just about as lazy - they're falling over into each other. I have some bush beans that are flowering and the crazy runner beans above were planted on my first day of layoff, July 1. They're over 6 feet tall and getting red flowers that allegedly attract butterflies. We'll see about that.

The weather was pretty awesome for running this morning. The highs are supposed to be in the low 70s all week and it's going down to 50 tonight!! I may need a long sleeve shirt for tomorrow morning's 10 miles. Or maybe those weird arm sleeves that we got from that race...

Pointe Fire

New terminology for wildland firefighters: resource

Pointe Fire, Twin Falls District, Idaho

This lightning caused fire started on August 6th at 2112. The fire started approximately three miles south of Rogerson, Idaho in grass and brush. The fire was estimated at 235 acres on the first day, but winds picked up and drove the fire, allowing it to burn more acreage. The fire has been mapped at 958.5 acres and has an estimated containment time of August 8th at 1600 and an estimated control time of August 9th. Crews were able to get a hold of the fire and are working on reaching the fires containment. There are 135 resources committed to the fire at this time. There are some valuable areas near the fire including: Salmon Falls Reservoir, National and Historical trails, sensitive plant species, and grazing allotments.

Basic Information

Incident Type	Wildfire
Cause	Lightning
Date of Origin	Saturday August 06th, 2011 approx. 09:12 PM
Location	Three miles south of Rogerson
Incident Commander	Anthony

Current Situation

Total Personnel	135
Size	958 acres
Percent Contained	60%
Estimated Containment Date	Monday August 08th, 2011 approx. 04:00 PM
Fuels Involved	Grass/Brush
Fire Behavior	The fire has currently calmed down since yesterday with
Significant Events	Thunderstorms and lightly scattered lightning showers with strong winds yesterday made containing the fire difficult, but crews remain working the fireline to reach their estimated containment today at 1600.

Outlook

Planned Actions	Continue to work the fire and widen lines.
Growth Potential	Medium
Terrain Difficulty	Extreme
Remarks	There are valuable areas near the fire including: Salmon Falls Reservoir, National and Historical trails, sensitive plant species, and grazing allotments.