A HIGH WIND WARNING is in effect for the Rocky Mountain Front and some adjacent locations until 11am Tuesday.
It is going to be windy tonight and tomorrow morning along the Rocky Mountain Front and in the Cut Bank area as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 25 and 50 mph, and wind gusts up to 75 mph are possible along the Rocky Mountain Front, while wind gusts up to 60 mph are possible in the Cut Bank area. Elsewhere, the wind is going to increase tonight, and it is going to be breezy in some areas later tonight and tomorrow morning as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph, and wind gusts over 30 mph are possible. The wind is gradually going to diminish for everyone as we go through tomorrow though.
Although the wind is a nuisance, this wind is also going to be responsible for eroding the colder air that is still around in north-central Montana east of I-15 and in northeastern Montana. Tonight, lows are going to be in the single digits and teens in north-central Montana east of I-15, and lows are going to be in the 20s and 30s around and west of I-15 in north-central Montana as well as in central Montana. For many, these low temperatures will occur during the first half of the night, with warming temperatures during the second part of the night. It is then going to be warmer for everyone tomorrow as highs are going to be in the 30s and 40s.
We are also going to have mostly clear skies and dry conditions tonight. For tomorrow, we are going to have partly cloudy skies via increasing clouds in north-central Montana and mostly sunny skies via increasing clouds around Helena.
On Wednesday, we are going to have mostly cloudy skies with a few isolated snow showers around in eastern portions of north-central Montana and northeastern Montana as a disturbance begins to approach our area. There are then going to be a few snow showers around Wednesday night as that disturbance passes through. For the rest of north-central Montana and central Montana, we are going to have mostly sunny skies and mainly dry conditions on Wednesday. It is also going to be a little bit colder on Wednesday than it is going to be tomorrow as highs are going to be in the 20s, 30s, and low 40s in north-central Montana, and the 40s around Helena.
We are then going to have partly to mostly sunny skies and mainly dry conditions on Thursday and Friday as an upper-level ridge is going to be in complete control of our weather. Around and west of I-15 and in central Montana, it is going to be mild on these two days as highs are going to be in the 40s and low to mid 50s. East of I-15 in north-central Montana, especially along the Hi-Line, the temperatures will warm up some over these two days as highs are going to be in the 30s and mid to upper 20s on Thursday and the mid to upper 30s and low to mid 40s on Friday.
We are also going to have increasing wind on Thursday, with breezy conditions (gusts over 30 mph) developing in some areas east of the Rocky Mountain Front and gusty winds (gusts over 40 mph) developing along the Rocky Mountain Front. Widespread gusty winds are then expected on Friday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 30 mph, and wind gusts over 40 mph are possible.
Saturday is then going to be the windiest and warmest day of the next week. On Saturday, sustained wind speeds in a lot of locations are going to be between 15 and 35 mph, and wind gusts over 50 mph are possible. Per usual, even stronger wind is expected along the Rocky Mountain Front where wind gusts over 60 mph are likely. It is also going to be very mild on Saturday as highs are going to be in the 50s and mid to upper 40s in most locations. We are also going to have mostly cloudy skies on Saturday with a few rain and higher elevation snow showers possible, generally in the mountains and especially during the evening as a disturbance begins to approach our area.
Some scattered rain/snow is then possible on Sunday as this disturbance passes through our area and some scattered snow is possible on Monday as another disturbance passes through our area. We are also going to have partly cloudy skies and cooler temperatures on these two days as highs are going to be in the 30s and 40s. It is also going to continue to be breezy on these two days as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 25 mph.
