Dry eyes in Great Falls, Montana

Great Falls eyes deal with two kinds of dry. Winter brings arctic cold broken by chinooks, the warm, dry winds that NOAA describes coming down the eastern slopes of the Rockies. Summer brings afternoons that NOAA’s humidity table puts at 29 percent in August. Breaking the wind with eyewear, humidifying the house and using a lubricating drop as labeled cover most days.

What is a chinook, and why do my eyes feel it?

NOAA’s State Climate Summary for Montana describes chinook winds as warm, dry winds that descend rapidly along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, common in winter and known for large, sudden temperature swings. The same summary cites the record: on January 14 and 15, 1972, chinook winds took the temperature in Loma, Montana, from minus 54°F to 49°F, a 103-degree change that stands as the largest 24-hour swing in US history.

For your eyes, the problem is the combination. A chinook arrives warm, dry and moving fast. The wind pulls moisture off the eye between blinks, and the dry air has room to absorb it. People often step outside on a mild January afternoon expecting relief from the cold and come home with eyes that feel scratchy. Then the arctic air returns, the furnace kicks back on, and indoor air dries out again.

How cold and how snowy Great Falls gets

NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for Great Falls International Airport give these figures:

• An average winter temperature (December through February) of 25.8°F.
• January highs of 35.3°F and lows of 15.0°F on average.
• About 168 days a year with a low at or below freezing.
• 66.1 inches of snow a season, with February and March each averaging 10.1 inches.
• 14.76 inches of total precipitation a year.

NOAA lists the airport station at 1,116.8 meters, about 3,664 feet, on the bench above the Missouri River. That’s lower than Casper or Cheyenne, but high enough that the air is thinner and the sun stronger than people coming from the coasts expect.

Is Great Falls a dry climate?

In summer, yes. NOAA’s Comparative Climatic Data table of relative humidity, which lists a morning and an afternoon average for each month, shows Great Falls afternoons at 30 percent in July and 29 percent in August. Mornings in those months run near 60 percent, so the drying happens through the afternoon, which is when people are out on the river trails, at ball games or working outside.

Winter readings look humid on paper, with January afternoons at 61 percent. That number describes cold outdoor air. Heat that same air to 70°F inside a house and its relative humidity falls sharply, which is why a Great Falls living room in February can feel drier than the trail in July.

Working outside: Malmstrom, ranches and the river

Malmstrom Air Force Base sits on the east side of Great Falls, and the Air Force says the 341st Missile Wing there operates missile fields spread across north central Montana. Maintenance and security crews spend long shifts driving to and working at remote sites in whatever weather the plains offer. Ranch hands, grain haulers, road crews and anyone fishing the Missouri face the same mix of wind, glare and cold.

• Wear wraparound sunglasses or safety glasses; snow glare makes people squint and blink less.
• Turn truck heater vents toward your feet or the windshield, not your face.
• Pull over or wait for a break before putting in a drop.
• Carry the bottle in an inside pocket, close to body warmth, rather than in a vehicle that sits for a whole shift at a missile site or a jobsite.

Inside the house during a Montana winter

A humidifier in the bedroom does more than one in a hallway, because that’s where you spend eight hours with your eyes closed and then open them to dry air. Does a humidifier help dry eyes? covers the details. Space heaters, wood stoves and fireplaces all dry the air further; sit where the warm air isn’t blowing across your face.

Screens matter in the long dark months, too. People tend to blink less while they stare at a phone or monitor, and fewer blinks means the tear film isn’t spread as often. A short break every so often, looking across the room and blinking fully, gives the tear film a chance to recover.

Using Quell in Great Falls

Quell’s Uses read: For use as a protectant against further irritation or to relieve dryness of the eye. It is designed to reinforce the tear film’s oil layer to help reduce moisture loss, which is the layer that a dry chinook or a furnace works against. The directions don’t change with the weather: Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye. More drops on a windy day isn’t part of the label.

Mind storage in both seasons. The label says: Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). A bottle left in a parked truck at minus 20°F, or on a dashboard in an 84°F July afternoon in full sun, is outside that range. If the bottle has been somewhere it shouldn’t, check it before use against the label’s line: If this product changes color. And always follow the handling rule: Do not touch tip of bottle to any surface to avoid contamination.

Ordering Quell to Great Falls

Quell ships from Brentwood, Tennessee, to every US state, including Montana. Shipping is $10.00, free on 3 or more bottles, and the site doesn’t promise a delivery date, so order with some days to spare before winter storms. See the Great Falls page and the Montana page for local details, or the Billings guide for the Yellowstone Valley.

If your eyes still hurt or your vision changes once you’re out of the wind, stop and follow the label: 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. Eye symptoms that need a doctor lists what not to wait on.