Dry eye relief in Missoula, Montana

Dry eye relief in Missoula starts with the calendar. July and August afternoons at the airport average 29 percent humidity in NOAA’s records, and from late fall into spring the furnace dries the air indoors. Shield your eyes from vents and wind, blink fully at screens, and use a lubricating drop exactly as its label directs. See an eye doctor for pain, vision changes or dryness that keeps coming back.

How dry is Missoula, really?

NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals for Missoula International Airport, which sits at about 973 meters (roughly 3,190 feet) on the valley floor west of downtown, describe a place that gets far less water than its green river corridors suggest:

• About 14.11 inches of precipitation in a normal year.
• June is the wettest month at 2.14 inches, while July (0.85) and August (0.83) are the driest.
• Normal snowfall is 43 inches, led by December at 11.6 inches and January at 9.9.
• About 26.6 days a year reach 90°F, and roughly 172 nights fall to 32°F or lower.

The Clark Fork, the Bitterroot and Rattlesnake Creek give the valley plenty of water to look at. The air above them is another matter, especially once the June rains taper off.

Late-summer afternoons in the high 20s

NOAA’s relative humidity table lists Missoula’s July and August afternoons at 29 percent, against mornings near 68 percent. That swing is the shape of a Missoula summer day: a cool, damp start along the river, then dry heat by mid-afternoon, with normal July highs of 85.4°F. Floating the Clark Fork or climbing to the M on Mount Sentinel after lunch puts your eyes in the driest part of the day, with glare off the water or the open grass on top of it.

• Plan the long ride on the Kim Williams Trail for the morning, when humidity runs more than twice the afternoon figure.
• Wear wraparound sunglasses on the river; they block breeze and reflected glare together.
• Step into shade now and then for a few slow, complete blinks.
• Aim the car’s air conditioning at your chest, not your face, on the drive back from the Bitterroot.

Winter in the valley: damp outside, dry inside

December flips the numbers. Afternoon humidity averages 79 percent and mornings 85 percent, so the outdoor air in a Missoula winter is anything but dry. NOAA’s wind table also shows Missoula tied for the calmest station in Montana, with December and January its stillest months. The trouble is indoors. Normal December highs reach only 30.9°F, and about 43 days a year never climb above freezing, so heating systems run for months. Warming cold outdoor air without adding moisture drops its relative humidity sharply, which is why a house can feel parched while fog hangs over the valley.

A bedroom humidifier, a lower thermostat at night and a chair moved away from the floor register all help. Ski days at Snowbowl add cold wind on the lift, and goggles cover more of the eye than sunglasses do. Our guide to winter heating and dry eyes goes room by room.

Screens, studying and the campus calendar

Missoula is a college town, and fall finals land in December, deep in heating season. Long sessions at a laptop slow your blink rate, and a library or dorm with forced-air heat dries the tear film faster between blinks. Look up from the screen every so often, and finish each blink rather than half-closing your eyes. Dry eyes while studying for exams has a fuller routine.

What Quell’s label covers

Quell is a lubricating eye drop designed to reinforce the tear film’s oil layer to help reduce moisture loss. Its Drug Facts panel gives its Uses as: For use as a protectant against further irritation or to relieve dryness of the eye. The directions say: Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye. Keep the dropper clean too: Do not touch tip of bottle to any surface to avoid contamination.

The panel also carries this caution: Caution should be used in those with egg or bird allergies — For use in the eyes only. For storage it says: Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). A truck parked at a trailhead in August or left in the Snowbowl lot in January can move past either end of that range, so carry the bottle in a jacket pocket or bring it inside. Everything on the panel is on our Drug Facts page.

Ordering Quell in Missoula

We ship from Brentwood, Tennessee, to Missoula, Lolo, Frenchtown and every other US address. Checkout is as a guest, shipping is $10.00, and orders of 3 or more bottles ship free. Tracking arrives by email, though no delivery date is promised, so reorder before the bottle runs low. Unopened bottles can be refunded within 30 days of delivery, and you don’t send them back. The Missoula page and the Montana page have local details, or you can order from the home page.

When it’s time for an eye doctor

A drop is for everyday dryness, not for working out the cause of symptoms that keep returning. The label sets the limit: Stop use and ask a doctor if you feel eye pain or changes in your vision, if irritation or redness continues, or if the condition worsens or persists for 72 hours. Pain, blurred vision that doesn’t clear, or one eye much worse than the other calls for an appointment rather than another bottle. The self-check can help you describe what you’re feeling before the visit; it’s not a diagnosis.