Due to wildfires burning locally, and due to wildfires burning in other states throughout the western U.S., smoky and/or hazy skies are expected for the foreseeable future here in Montana. With this smoke in the air, the air quality is likely going to continue to be in the “moderate” or “unhealthy for sensitive groups” categories for the foreseeable future, so if you are sensitive to increased particulates in the atmosphere, then you may want to try and limit your time outdoors.
There are going to be scattered rain showers and thunderstorms around tonight, especially before midnight and especially in locations around and to the east of I-15. Some of these showers and thunderstorms are going to be slow-moving with heavy rainfall, which may lead to flash flooding. Due to this potential for flash flooding, there is a Flash Flood Watch in effect for Cascade County and parts of south-central Montana until 12am tonight. Mild temperatures are also in the forecast for tonight as lows are going to be in the low to mid 60s in most locations.
For tomorrow, we are going to have mostly to partly cloudy skies with some scattered rain showers and thunderstorms around in east-central and eastern Montana (locations east of I-15), and we are going to have partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies and mostly dry conditions in west-central and western Montana (locations around and to the west of I-15). It is also going to be very warm tomorrow in east-central and eastern Montana as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 80s and low 90s, and it is going to be hot tomorrow in west-central and western Montana as highs are going to be in the low to mid 90s. There is also going to be a bit of a breeze around tomorrow along the Hi-Line as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 15 mph.
On Wednesday, we are going to have increasing clouds with a chance of a few rain showers and thunderstorms, generally during the afternoon and evening and generally in locations north and east of Great Falls. Thursday is then going to have increasing clouds with just a few isolated rain showers and thunderstorms around, generally during the afternoon and evening. It is also going to continue to be hot on these two days as highs are going to be in the low to mid 90s in most locations.
There are then going to be some scattered rain showers and thunderstorms around on Friday as a disturbance passes through our area. Cooler temperatures are also expected on Friday as highs are only going to be in the low to mid 80s in most locations. It is also going to be breezy on Friday, especially during the afternoon and evening, as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph.
For this weekend, we are going to have mostly sunny skies with some isolated rain showers and thunderstorms around on Saturday, and partly cloudy skies with a slight chance of rain showers and thunderstorms on Sunday. It is also going to feel refreshingly cool this weekend as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 70s and low 80s, and lows are going to be in the upper 40s and low to mid 50s. Sadly, along with these cooler temperatures comes stronger winds as windy/breezy conditions are expected on both Saturday and Sunday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 30 mph.
We are then going to have a chance to see some more rain showers and thunderstorms next Monday as another disturbance begins to pass through our area. Highs next Monday are also going to be in the mid to upper 70s.
