I really like the third week of August. I like it especially when it snows. I’ve experienced August snow 4 or 5 times since 1990 (when I moved to Montana). Snow, either in the valley or just in the hills ringing the valley is such a non-sequitur when there previous week often sees highs of 100f. But this is one of the things that makes life in Montana so wonderful- you honestly never know what to expect from the weather.
This year, in Helena, we don’t have snow, but it has been raining almost non-stop for about 18 hours and clouds and humidity-haze obscure the horizons as if we live in the Appalachian’s. There is a smell that comes from rain in the forest that is absent most of the year in Helena- we get only 11 inches of precip on average over the whole year. So, to have received a 3/10ths of an inch of rain since midnight- with its soft drumming on the roof, its wonderful dripping sounds all around, and gauzy-grey cast that it gives the views in every direction makes for a terrific change of pace.
This weather phenomenon is called the August Singularity. The American Meteorological Society apparently debated and researched it for a while to determine if it actually happens. In June of 2008, they published an article called “Does an August Singularity Exist in the Northern Rockies of the United States?” I’ll skip the details, but the upshot can be paraphrased thusly- it is concluded that the concept of an August Singularity in the northern Rockies is valid.
Those of us that have lived here for a while could have saved them some time and effort in coming to that conclusion- but it’s nice to know our lay-person observations are valid. I’d say that 3 out of 5 years we get a decent temperature drop with a lot of precipitation. 1 in 10 years, we get snow, and 1 in 7 we have no change to what you expect in mid- to late-August. So, it doesn’t happen every year- but most of the time, late-August brings a two to four day reprieve from the heat.
This is too early in our fire season to be a season-ending event, but it does tamp down the smoke in the air and reduces the fire activity where fires are already burning in our area. This year, our singularity comes just ahead of whatever impact Tropical Storm Hilary might bring to Montana- if any at all. With the dry lightning and winds we were having in early to mid August, I would welcome 10 days rain.
To celebrate this cooler weather, the Lab and I went up to MacDonald Pass to do a little walking in what I hoped would be an atmosphere similar to a cloud forest. We were not disappointed. It was not raining, but the upslope breeze driven mist made wearing glasses impossible; my windward side was damp after a half mile of walking; the flowers were all dripping wet; the smells were amazing; and visibility was less than 50 meters at ground level.
Today was a very different day in nature than we have had in a long time.
Nature, every day. 
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