An AIR QUALITY ALERT is in effect for most of central and eastern Montana until at least 9am Saturday. The air quality is going to at least be unhealthy for sensitive groups, if not unhealthy for everyone.
A DENSE SMOKE ADVISORY is in effect for northeastern Montana until 6pm Saturday. Visibility as low as 2 miles is possible in dense smoke.
Thanks to northwesterly flow aloft, wildfire smoke from Canada has worked its way back into Montana and this smoke is going to stick around through the weekend. Widespread smoke/haze is expected in central and eastern Montana through Sunday, although the smoke/haze will gradually decrease from west to east as we go through Sunday. The air quality is also going to be unhealthy for at least sensitive groups, if not unhealthy for everyone in central and eastern Montana for a lot of this weekend, so please try and limit your time outdoors.
In western Montana, it is going to be hazy tonight and tomorrow, but the air quality should not be impacted a lot, with the air quality remaining in the good or moderate category in most locations. Much cleaner air is then expected on Monday for the entire state as our flow aloft switches to come out of the west/southwest.
Outside of the smoke/haze, we are going to have mostly to mainly sunny skies this weekend. Most locations are also going to be dry this weekend, but there will be some isolated showers and thunderstorms around, especially on Saturday. The temperatures are also going to warm up some this weekend as highs are going to be in the 80s tomorrow and the mid to upper 80s and low to mid 90s on Sunday. It is also going to be a little breezy in some areas this weekend as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 5 and 20 mph.
On Monday, we are going to have partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies with a few isolated showers and thunderstorms around as a disturbance passes through our area. We are also going to have increasing wind on Monday, with gusty winds around during the afternoon and evening as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 30 mph, and wind gusts over 40 mph are going to be possible at times. It is also going to be hot on Monday as highs are going to be in the upper 80s and low to mid 90s in most locations.
Gusty winds are also expected on Tuesday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 30 mph, and wind gusts over 40 mph are going to be possible at times. It is also going to be cooler on Tuesday (thanks to a cold front) as highs are going to be in the upper 70s and low to mid 80s. We are also going to have lots of sunshine and mainly dry conditions on Tuesday.
Lots of sunshine and mainly dry conditions are then expected on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday as an upper-level ridge is going to be in control of our weather. On Wednesday, highs are going to be in the upper 70s and low to mid 80s. The temperatures are then going to warm up a lot for the end of next week as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 80s and low 90s on Thursday, and the low to mid 90s on Friday. It is also going to be a bit breezy on Wednesday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph.
