BOZEMAN – The third extreme heat wave to impact Montana during the month of June was the most intense across the entire region.
Record breaking tiple digit heat over the Pacific NW, Idaho, Montana and even southern Canada.
When temperatures get above 95° it starts to impact infrastructure, like roads, electrical grids and even some flight operations.
Extreme heat is the number one related weather killer in the United States every year. For northern states this is especially dangerous as most homes are not air conditioned.
This third heat wave has significantly deepened the ongoing drought across Montana and increased Moderate, Severe, and Extreme ratings from SW Montana to NE Montana counties in the last two weeks.
There are far too many record to report here for the entire region but there were several historic all-time June records broken over the Pacific NW.
Locally, SW Montana did not see the full brunt of the extreme heat. There were a few tied record highs but most of this region was able to stay under 100 degrees as we wrapped up June and started into July.
Excessive heat warnings and advisories did cover most of western, northern and eastern Montana and these regions did see several consecutive days of upper 90s to low 100s.
As we head into the 4th of July weekend this heat wave has produced extremely dry conditions and much higher fire danger.
Numerous area local rivers are now under Hoot Owl fishing restrictions as water temperatures are too warm in the afternoon to early evening hours for fish survival, especially for catch and release.
Forecast models are beginning to point to another excessive heat wave around July 8th to the 11th. SW Montana could once again see max temperatures rise into the mid to upper 90s.
