8 hours ago • By Martin Kidston
martin.kidston@missoulian.com

Record high temperatures, a record number of days without rain, record low precipitation, record low stream flows and expanding drought conditions have a grip on western Montana, and forecasters don’t expect much to change heading into July. ... In fact, a record-setting heat wave is on the way, with temperatures in Missoula expected to climb to 104 degrees by Monday.

There’s no rain in sight and forests are as dry now as they typically are in mid-August, forecasters with the National Weather Service’s Missoula office warned Tuesday.

“We have several measures we track for (forest) dryness and, over the past few weeks, they’ve all been at record dryness levels for this time of year,” said Mike Richmond, a wildfire meteorologist. “The dryness levels are the same as what they would be on an average year in mid-August.”

Between April and June, Missoula typically averages 5.3 inches of precipitation. It’s generally the wettest time of the year, when the region picks up the bulk of its moisture.

But this year, according to senior meteorologist Bob Nester, Missoula has recorded less than 1.7 inches of rain, or just 32 percent of normal. That comes close to breaking a record set in 1931.