The expected rain, however, did not arrive in July. Day after day continued to dawn hot and dry and, by the end of July, conditions were parched.

For instance, lumber dried in a kiln has a 12 percent moisture level; downed trees in Yellowstone in 1988 had moisture levels as low as 7 percent!

As if this were not enough, unusually high winds started blowing nearly every day. Fires that otherwise may have spread slowly, started tearing through forests and meadows.