Thanks to a cold front, it was a lot cooler today than it has been over the past few days as highs were only in the 70s (80s and low 90s around Helena). We also had partly cloudy skies and mostly dry conditions today.
Tonight, we are going to have partly cloudy to mostly clear skies with a few showers/storms in the northeastern part of the state after midnight. Around Helena, we are going to have mainly clear skies and dry conditions tonight. It is also going to feel nice outside tonight as lows are going to be in the upper 40s and low to mid 50s in most locations.
For tomorrow, we are going to have partly to mostly sunny skies with a few isolated showers/storms, mainly in northeastern Montana. It is also going to be warmer tomorrow than it was today as highs are going to be in the 80s in most locations. Along the Divide and the Rocky Mountain Front, it will be breezy tomorrow as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 25 mph. Elsewhere, it will be a little breezy tomorrow (especially along the eastern half of the Hi-Line) as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 5 and 20 mph.
Check out the weekend forecast:
A couple disturbances will pass through the state this weekend as we are going to have unstable southwesterly flow aloft due to an upper-level trough being located to our northwest and an upper-level ridge being located to our southeast. This weekend, we are going to have partly to mostly sunny skies (via increasing clouds) with a few PM showers/storms in north-central Montana and some scattered PM showers/storms around Helena. A majority of this weekend will be dry, but if you are going to be outdoors at all during the PM hours, make sure you keep an eye to the sky.
It will be very warm this weekend as highs are going to be in the 80s and low 90s. It will also be breezy along the Divide/the Rocky Mountain Front and out to I-15 on Saturday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 25 mph. Elsewhere, there will just be a little breeze around on Saturday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 5 and 20 mph. Little to no wind is then expected for most on Sunday.
There is also going to be some haze around tonight, tomorrow, and this weekend, as wildfire smoke from fires burning throughout the western U.S. filters into the state. The visibility will be reduced some from this smoke, but the air quality won’t be impacted much as most locations in central and north-central Montana should continue to have “good” or “moderate” air quality.
Another disturbance will impact Montana on Monday producing a few isolated showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening, generally in the mountains and in locations east of I-15. We are also going to have mostly sunny skies on Monday. Lots of sunshine and dry conditions are then expected on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday as an upper-level ridge is going to be in control of our weather. It is also going to be hot next week as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 80s and low to mid 90s in most spots.
