Heat wave scorches Montana

Havre Daily News/Mary White

Herefords endure the heat Wednesday afternoon near Saddle Butte. Record temperatures are being reported across the state, but the Hi-Line will be cooling off slightly over the weekend.

Hot, dry weather burned through the region this week, with Havre hitting a scorching — although not record — temperature of 100 degrees Wednesday.

While the temperatures are expected to stay hot, the highs are predicted to drop over the next few days, with National Weather Service predicting highs for Havre at 91 Friday, 87 Saturday and 84 Sunday.

The Weather Service forecast calls for a chance of thunderstorms Friday, Friday night and Sunday night, with partly cloudy skies predicted for Saturday through Sunday.

The 100-degree high for Wednesday missed the record for Havre by 3 degrees. The record 103 was set Aug. 8, 1971, with the record low of 40 degrees on Aug. 8, 1893.

The high in the state was a new record. Weather Service reports the high at Great Falls was 102, which broke its previous record of 99 degrees on Aug. 8, 1971.

Two records were broken in Bozeman, with the reporting station at the airport there recording 99 degrees with the previous record of 98 degrees set on Aug. 8, 1963.

The reporting station at the Montana State University campus in Bozeman also set a new record, reporting a high of 97, with the previous record of 95 degrees set in 2001.

Missoula had a scorcher for that region, hitting 100 degrees for the first time in three years.

That tied the previous record of 100 for Aug. 8, set in 1947, 1958 and 1970.

But most of the region will see lower temperatures in the forecast, with most of the state's high temperatures expected to be in the low- to mid-90s over the next few days.