It was a beautiful end to 2025 with partly to mostly sunny skies, dry conditions, and pleasant temperatures. The only negative about today’s weather was that there was some wind along the Rocky Mountain Front and along Highway 200.
If you will be celebrating the New Year outdoors tonight in central and north-central Montana, you are going to have great weather to do so. The temperatures at and before midnight will be in the mid to upper 20s, 30s, and low 40s in most locations. There will still be a bit of a breeze around this evening, but the wind will diminish as the night goes on. Skies will also clear out as we go through tonight, with mostly clear skies expected in north-central Montana at midnight and partly to mostly cloudy skies expected in Helena at midnight. Lows tomorrow morning will be in the mid to upper teens, 20s and low 30s in most locations.
The first day of 2026 will feature pleasant weather as an upper-level ridge remains in control of our weather. Tomorrow will be partly cloudy, with the cloud cover increasing from southwest to northeast as the day goes on. It will be dry during the day tomorrow, but a few rain/snow showers are possible along the Divide and the Rocky Mountain Front during the evening. There is also going to be little to no wind in most locations tomorrow. Along the Hi-Line east of I-15, it will be a chilly day tomorrow as highs are going to be in the 20s and 30s. Elsewhere, it is going to be mild again tomorrow as highs are going to be in the 40s and upper 30s.
Here is the detailed forecast:
There are then going to be some scattered rain and snow showers around tomorrow night and some isolated rain and snow showers around on Friday, especially during the Hi-Line as a disturbance passes through our area. Along the Divide, snow is likely tomorrow night and Friday. In the lower elevations, little to no snow and ice accumulation is expected. In the mountains, a coating to 5 inches of accumulation is expected, with the highest snow amounts in Glacier National Park. Some of the mountain passes, including Marias Pass and Rogers Pass, may be slick tomorrow night and Friday. It is also going to be mostly cloudy to overcast tomorrow night and Friday.
The wind will pick back up on Friday as gusty winds (gusts up to 50 mph) are expected along the Rocky Mountain Front and breezy conditions (gusts up to 40 mph) are expected in and around Cascade County and Judith Basin County. Highs on Friday will be in the 20s and 30s along the Hi-Line east of I-15 and the 40s and low 50s elsewhere.
The nice weather continues this weekend east of the Divide. On Saturday, it is going to be partly to mostly cloudy and mostly dry, just some snow/rain along the Divide. It is also going to be mild in a lot of areas on Saturday as highs are going to be in the 40s and low 50s, but it will continue to be chilly along the Hi-Line east of I-15 as highs are going to be in the 20s and 30s. The wind also won’t be too strong on Saturday, just a little breezy (5-20 mph) east of the Rocky Mountain Front and breezy (10-25 mph) along the Rocky Mountain Front.
On Sunday, it is going to be partly cloudy, mainly dry, and mild as highs are going to be in the upper 30s, 40s, and low to mid 50s. It is also going to be breezy in a lot of areas on Sunday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 25 mph, and wind gusts up to 40 mph are possible.
