Hot Temperatures and June Dryness Overwriting Century-Old Records for Western Montana
Western Montana is under a heat advisory for most of the weekend—reaching temperatures that most of the state hasn’t seen for over a century. What’s more, Senior Forecaster Bob Nestor with the National Weather Service said June is anticipated to be the driest month in Montana since 1910.
"It's one of our driest Junes on record, specifically in Missoula. If we don't get any rain by the end of the month, we'll tie for the fifth driest June on record, tied with the year 1910," Nestor said. "It has not rained in Missoula since June 2. We're going to be breaking a record for the most days without precipitation for the month of June."
As far as ramifications are concerned, Nestor said fire danger has increased.
"Things that get fires going are, you know, a little lightning, a little wind," Nestor said. "You never know if we get some sort of freak storm in the middle of July that gives us a good day of rain like we had in 2009. The next couple weeks look pretty dry, perhaps a day or two of convection, but scattered in nature, so not really any relief at all."
Spring is also now in the books as one of the driest in western Montana. Two to three inches of rain are necessary, Nestor said, to make up for April, May and June alone. Missoula's all-time record without any precipitation dates back to August 22, 2010 at 42 days.
Look for more hot temps in the days ahead—Nestor said even though the 100 degree heat may be behind us, 90 degree temps and beyond are expected for the remainder of the week.