It was a mild day as highs were in the 60s and low 70s. Great Falls topped out at 71° today, which ties the record high for this date which was set back in 1946. Some areas also had to deal with smoke and haze today as there were multiple prescribed burns taking place, especially in Cascade County and Lewis and Clark County. To go along with the prescribed burns, there were three new fire starts today in Lewis and Clark County. The biggest one was the Deadman fire which was located northwest of Craig off of Highway 287. This fire is now 100% contained, but not before burning 236 acres. There was also the Shaman fire which burned 5 acres west of Helena by Duncan Airfield, and there was the 4975 Ferrett Road fire which burned 3 acres northwest of Helena.
Tonight, we are going to have partly cloudy skies and pleasant temperatures as lows are going to be in the 30s and low to mid 40s, with the coolest temperatures along the Hi-Line. It is also going to be a little breezy tonight in some areas as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 5 and 20 mph.
Thursday will be our final mild day before cooler temperatures arrive, so make sure you get outside and enjoy the warmth while we have it! Highs tomorrow are going to be in the 60s and low to mid 70s, and a couple spots may set a new record high temperature. There is also going to be a breeze around tomorrow in a lot of areas as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 25 mph. We are also going to have mostly cloudy skies tomorrow with a few rain showers and isolated thunderstorms around during the afternoon and evening as a cold front begins to approach our area.
There are then going to be some scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms around tomorrow night as this cold front passes through our area. Precipitation will primarily be in the form of rain, but this rain may mix in with or switch-over to snow in a few areas Friday morning, although little to no snow accumulation is expected.
On Friday, we are going to have partly to mostly cloudy skies with some scattered rain and snow showers around in north-central Montana, generally during the morning and evening, and scattered PM rain and mountain snow showers around the Helena area as tomorrow night’s cold front leaves our area and as a stronger disturbance begins to approach our area. It is also going to be a lot cooler on Friday as highs are going to range from the upper 30s to the mid 50s, with the warmest temperatures around Helena. There is also going to be a bit of a breeze around on Friday in eastern portions of north-central Montana as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph.
Precipitation will then become more widespread as we go through Friday night as the stronger disturbance continues to approach our area. Precipitation will initially be in the form of rain, but this rain will mix in with and switch-over to snow as the night goes on. There are then going to be areas of snow around on Saturday, especially during the morning, as this disturbance impacts our area. Some rain may mix in with this snow at times, especially around Helena. Light snow accumulations of a coating to a few inches are possible in the lower elevations, and a few to several inches of snow is possible in the mountains, which means roads will be slick/snow-covered at times, especially at and above mountain pass level. It is also going to be chilly and a little breezy on Saturday as highs are going to be in the 30s and low 40s, and sustained wind speeds are going to be between 5 and 20 mph.
We are then going to have mostly cloudy skies on Sunday with some scattered snow and a few rain showers around, generally during the morning, as this disturbance leaves our area. It is also going to continue to be chilly on Sunday as highs are only going to be in the 30s and low to mid 40s.
Cool and wet weather will continue as we head into next week. On Monday, there are going to be scattered rain and snow showers around Helena, generally during the afternoon/evening, and there are going to be a few isolated snow and rain showers around in north-central Montana as the next disturbance begins to approach our area. There are then going to be scattered snow and rain showers around on Tuesday, especially around Helena and in the mountains, as this disturbance passes through our area. We are also going to have mostly cloudy skies and cool temperatures on these two days as highs are going to be in the 40s and low 50s. There is also going to be a bit of a breeze around on Tuesday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph.
