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HELENA, Mont.-If a record-breaking heat wave doesn't lift soon, cattle rancher Sharon McDonald may see her hay crop turn to dust.Oppressive temperatures eased a bit Friday in some parts of the West, but McDonald's central Montana ranch baked under triple-digit heat.Forecasters reported little relief in the days ahead, saying the weather system that brought the high temperatures could last well into next week.In Montana, where cattle outnumber residents by more than 2 to 1, livestock and people sought shade and drought-weary farmers watched for damage to grain."We are trying to get our hay up before it disintegrates," said McDonald, a rancher near Melville. "It just gets crispy and just falls apart."Extreme heat plagued much of Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Oregon and Washington state.Air conditioners-and even swamp coolers were predictably hot sellers at the hardware store."I'm telling you, it has been nuts," said Dennis VanDyke, a manager at Power Townsend in Helena. "The only thing I am getting calls for is air conditioners."VanDyke said some people prefer swamp coolers, which use a fan and the condensation of water to cool the air, over the more power-hungry air conditioning units."They are being bought faster than we can put them on the shelves," he said.In Montana, temperatures above 100 degrees are usually not seen until August.The normal July high in Helena is 83 degrees-not the high 90s seen Friday.Triple-digit records were set or tied in several Montana cities, including Great Falls and Billings at 104 degrees each.The mercury reached 105 in the north-central Montana town of Havre and at the Gallatin Field Airport near Bozeman...
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