Another beautiful summer day today with mostly sunny skies and very warm temperatures! Tonight, we are going to have mostly cloudy skies around Helena with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms, and we are going to have partly cloudy to mostly clear skies and dry conditions in north-central Montana. It is also going to feel nice outside again tonight as lows are going to be in the 50s in most locations.
Tomorrow, we are going to have mostly cloudy skies with a few showers and stray thunderstorms around Helena later in the day as monsoonal moisture begins to work its way further northward. In north-central Montana, we are going to have partly cloudy skies and dry conditions tomorrow, with the cloud cover increasing as the day goes on.
It will also continue to be a bit hazy around the Helena area tonight and tomorrow, but the haze will diminish as we head into the end of the work week as cooler temperatures and increased moisture will limit the growth on many of the fires that are still burning in Montana.
Around Helena, it will be cooler tomorrow than it was today as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 70s and low to mid 80s. In north-central Montana, it will be another very warm day tomorrow as highs are going to be in the 80s and low 90s. There is also going to be an easterly breeze around tomorrow afternoon and evening as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph, and gusts over 30 mph are possible.
Full Forecast:
Monsoonal moisture will continue to push further north on Thursday as showers are likely around Helena, especially during the afternoon and evening, and there will be some scattered showers in north-central Montana, especially in Cascade County, Fergus County, and Judith Basin County. There will also be a few thunderstorms around on Thursday, and it will be mostly cloudy to overcast.
Through Thursday evening, the most moisture will fall in southwestern Montana where up to or even over 1” of rain is possible. There is also a FLASH FLOOD WATCH in effect for portions of southwestern Montana from Wednesday afternoon through early Wednesday night as flash flooding and debris flows are possible on recent burn scars.
The further north you go, the lower the precipitation amounts will be. In central Montana, including around the Helena area, up to .5” of rain is possible, with a few locations possibly receiving over .5” of rain, depending on where the heavier showers/thunderstorms develop. In north-central Montana, less than .25” of rain is expected, with many areas receiving less than .1” of rain through Thursday evening.
On Friday, we are going to have mostly cloudy skies with some scattered showers and a few thunderstorms around, especially in locations east of I-15. Friday will be the wettest day of the week for north-central Montana, while Thursday will be the wettest day of the week for the Helena area.
Cooler temperatures are also expected on Thursday and Friday. Around Helena and in southern portions of north-central Montana, highs are going to be in the mid to upper 60s and low to mid 70s. In the rest of north-central Montana, highs are going to be in the 80s and mid to upper 70s, with Friday being the cooler day. Little to no wind is also expected on these two days.
Nice weather returns for Labor Day weekend as we are going to have partly to mostly sunny skies on Saturday and mostly sunny skies on Sunday and Monday. Many locations will be dry this weekend, but some isolated showers and thunderstorms are possible Saturday and there will be a couple isolated showers and thunderstorms around later on Sunday and Monday. It is also going to be warm, but comfortable for the unofficial end to summer as highs are going to be in the upper 70s and low to mid 80s on Saturday and the 80s and low 90s on Sunday and Monday.
