Another day of sweltering heat and hazy skies across central Montana. Heat advisories and warnings are in place for all of central and eastern Montana as temperatures will heat as high as 110° in parts of the area. This will lead to a high likelihood of heat-related illnesses for those spending extended time outdoors.
Fire weather is going to be a major concern both Wednesday and Thursday with hot temperatures, very low humidity and strong winds expected. Additionally, scattered strong thunderstorms will move into southwest Montana between 2 and 4pm this afternoon.
The storms will then push northeast into central Montana for the evening. There is a marginal risk for the storms to turn severe later today. The main threats will be strong wind gusts (60-70mph) and frequent lightning. This could ignite new fires and cause any existing fires to spread rapidly.
Red Flag Warnings are in place for southwest Montana, including Helena, along with Glacier, Toole, Liberty and Pondera counties on Wednesday. The rest of the area is under a Fire Weather Watch for Thursday afternoon and evening.
The wind is going to pick up as a cold front approaches from the west on Thursday. Widespread 30-40mph gusts are expected through central Montana, with the possibility for 45mph+ wind gusts for the Rocky Mountain Front. This will lead to critical fire danger on Thursday. The cold front will trigger additional scattered showers and thunderstorms Thursday afternoon for areas east of I-15.
A cooler airmass will settle in behind the cold front just in time for the upcoming weekend. Seasonable temperatures are expected with highs ranging from the low to upper 80s and overnight lows in the 50s Friday through Sunday.
