After another hot and hazy weekend, temperatures continue to climb and wildfire smoke remains in place to start the work week. At times, air quality may reach unhealthy levels for all groups. However, air quality will mostly remain in the "Orange" or Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups category today.
Most areas will reach the mid and upper 90s this afternoon. Wildfire smoke will move into the area from Canada, leading to poor, and at times unhealthy, air quality over the next few days. Smoke levels and therefore air quality can fluctuate often throughout the day as the wind direction shifts. At times, air quality may reach the "Red" or Unhealthy category, which means we all have the potential to experience healthy effects due to the smoke.
There is a Heat Advisory that will be active starting Tuesday at 9:00 AM and lasting through Thursday at 9:00 PM for most of north central Montana. An Excessive Heat Watch is in effect for the same time frame for eastern Montana. Temperatures could soar as high as 107 degrees in parts of the area.
However, relief is in sight! The high pressure ridge responsible for the consistent heat is going to break down later this week allowing a low pressure center to sneak by just to the north of the area. This will send a cold front through our area on Thursday.
While this will bring a welcomed cooldown, it will also ramp up the wind and trigger off a few showers and thunderstorms. This will lead to critical fire danger on Thursday. A Fire Weather Watch is already in place for Thursday including most of central Montana.
Temperatures drop into the 80s from Friday through Sunday. Expect refreshing nights with temps dropping into the lower 50s!
