A few showers and thunderstorms will begin to develop in north-central Montana as we get closer to sunset. Showers and thunderstorms will then become more numerous in north-central and northeastern Montana as we go through tonight as a cold front works its way through our area. A couple of these thunderstorms may be severe with damaging winds (58+ mph) and/or large hail (1+” in diameter).
Tomorrow will be a wet day as the storm system associated with the cold front continues to impact the state. Around Helena, there are going to be scattered showers around throughout the day tomorrow. In north-central Montana, off-an-on rain is likely tomorrow, and some of this rain may be moderate to heavy at times. A few isolated thunderstorms are also possible tomorrow. Scattered showers will continue tomorrow night, but will gradually taper off from west to east as the night goes on as the storm system begins to depart our area. We are also going to have overcast skies tomorrow and tomorrow night.
On Wednesday, we are going to have mostly cloudy skies with areas of fog around during the morning. The skies will then clear out as we go through the afternoon and evening. A few lingering showers are possible on Wednesday east of I-15, but a lot of locations will be dry.
Locations in north-central Montana will receive some very beneficial moisture from this storm system as most will receive between .25” and 1” of rain, with a few areas receiving over 1” of rain. Glacier National Park may actually receive 1-3” of rain from this storm, and light snow accumulations are possible above 8500 feet. The Helena area will miss out on a lot of the beneficial rain as most areas will likely receive <.25” of rain, with amounts getting lower the further south and west of Helena you go.
There is also going to be a good breeze around tonight and tomorrow as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 25 mph, and wind gusts up to 40 mph are possible. This wind will be a cold wind as it will be coming out of the north in most locations. Lows tonight are going to be in the mid to upper 40s and low to mid 50s. Significantly cooler temperatures are then expected tomorrow as highs are going to be in the 50s and low 60s, and a few spots may set new record cold minimum high temperatures for tomorrow depending on how quickly the temperatures cool down before midnight. The temperatures will begin to warm back up on Wednesday as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 60s and low 70s.
Thursday will feature more sunshine and seasonable temperatures as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 70s and low to mid 80s. A few showers and thunderstorms are also possible Thursday afternoon and evening, generally along the Hi-Line, as a disturbance clips our area.
We are then going to have mostly sunny skies and mostly dry conditions on Friday as high pressure is going to be in control of our weather. It is also going to be warm and a little breezy on Friday as highs are going to be in the upper 70s and low to mid 80s, and sustained wind speeds are going to be between 5 and 20 mph.
For this weekend, we are going to have partly to mostly sunny skies with a few isolated showers and thunderstorms around east of I-15 on Saturday and a few scattered showers and thunderstorms around east of I-15 on Sunday. It is also going to be very warm this weekend as highs are going to be in the 80s and low 90s. There is also going to be a little breeze around this weekend as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 5 and 20 mph.
