If you've been noticing that this year has been extremely dry, you're not alone. The National Weather Service is calling 2013 the driest in the last 40 years.

Meteorologist Bob Nester said on Monday, November 11, that October was especially dry in Western Montana.

"So far, we've had the third driest October on record," Nester said. "The next driest was 1987, and the next was in 1978. For the year thus far, January through the present day, it's our fourth driest year on record with only 7.75 inches of precipitation for the entire year, which is only about 57 percent of normal."

Nester said that for the most part, moisture will increase through the end of the year to make up for the shortfall.

"We've had some dry years before, but they've caught up in November and December," Nester said. "Here's one example - Our driest January through October 31 was in 1973 when we only had 4.88 inches, but they had roughly 5 inches in November and December. It was still a dry year, but they were able to catch up on overall moisture."

Nester said the lack of moisture this late in the year will not lead to an increase in fire danger.

Meteorologist Bob Nester:

 

 

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