Point Six

Missoula and all of western Montana endured a long night of high winds, downed trees and power outages, said meteorologist Travis Booth with the National Weather Service office in Missoula early Tuesday morning.

UPDATE - Saturday, August 31, 10:30 a.m. According to a news release from the Missoula City Fire Department, the grass fire Friday night was caused by a lightning strike that struck a Northwest Energy power line. It appears that the lightning struck a cross member near the top of the pole and caught fire, dropping embers to the ground, catching the grass on fire. The fire is estimated to be about