A HIGH WIND WARNING is in effect for all of north-central Montana until 8am/11am Tuesday.
A HIGH WIND WARNING is in effect for all of north-central, portions of central, and portions of southwestern Montana from 3am Wednesday until 12am Thursday.
A HIGH WIND WATCH is in effect for western Montana from 5am until 5pm Wednesday and for northeastern Montana from 11am Wednesday until 5am Thursday.
A WINTER STORM WATCH is in effect for the Glacier area and the Rocky Mountain Front from 8pm Tuesday until 11pm Wednesday.
It has been a warm and windy start to the work week. Multiple locations, including Great Falls and Helena, set a new record high temperature today as highs were in the upper 50s and low to mid 60s. It was also windy today, especially along the Rocky Mountain Front and out to I-15, where wind gusts over 70 mph were recorded. A 106 mph wind gust was recorded 4 miles SSE of Bynum around 2:30pm on Monday, which is equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane.
The wind will continue to be awful for the next few days. Widespread windy conditions are expected tonight and tomorrow morning as 75-90 mph wind gusts are possible along the Rocky Mountain Front and out to I-15, and wind gusts up to 70 mph are possible east of I-15. The wind will be weaker in the valleys though as gusts will remain below 40 mph. The wind will diminish some as we go through tomorrow, but gusty winds (gusts over 40 mph at times) will persist during the afternoon and evening. The wind will then pick back up tomorrow night.
Here is the detailed forecast:
A strong and potentially damaging wind event is expected on Wednesday. Wind gusts over 90 mph are possible along the Rocky Mountain Front and out to I-15, with a few locations possibly having gusts over 100 mph. East of I-15, wind gusts over 70 mph are possible. This will be a widespread high wind event and could cause damage, including downed trees, broken tree limbs, and damage to infrastructure. Power outages are also possible. It is strongly suggested that high-profile vehicles and vehicles pulling trailers do not travel on Wednesday as travel will be extremely difficult to nearly impossible.
The wind will weaken on Thursday as it will just be a breezy (10-25 mph) day, but windy conditions (15-35 mph) return for a lot of us on Friday.
Tonight, we are going to have partly cloudy to mostly clear skies with a few rain/snow showers, mainly along/near the Divide. It is also going to be mild tonight as lows are going to be in the mid to upper 30s and low to mid 40s. Tomorrow will be another mild day, although it will be cooler than today was as highs are going to be in the upper 30s, 40s, and low 50s. We are also going to have partly to mostly sunny skies tomorrow with a few rain showers around Helena, generally in the mountains, some rain/snow along the Divide, and isolated rain/snow showers along the eastern half of the Hi-Line during the evening.
There are then going to be scattered rain and snow showers around on Wednesday, especially during the morning, as a disturbance works its way through our area. We are also going to have partly cloudy skies on Wednesday. Highs on Wednesday will be in the 40s and low 50s, but these highs will occur during the morning, with the temperatures getting a bit colder as the day goes on.
On Thursday, there are going to be scattered PM snow/rain showers around Helena and it is going to be mostly cloudy and mostly dry in north-central Montana. Snow/rain is then likely around Helena on Friday and there are going to be some scattered snow/rain showers around in north-central Montana on Friday as another disturbance impacts the state.
Thursday will be a cooler day as highs are going to be in the 30s and low to mid 40s. It is then going to be cool on Friday as highs are going to be in the 30s along the Hi-Line and the 40s south of the Hi-Line.
Colder temperatures return this weekend as highs are going to be in the 20s and low 30s along the Hi-Line and the 30s south of the Hi-Line. On Saturday, there are going to be a few snow showers around. It is then going to be mostly dry on Sunday. We are also going to have partly to mostly sunny skies this weekend. There is also going to be a breeze around on Saturday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 25 mph.
