A FLOOD WATCH is in effect until 12am Thursday for portions of central and southern Montana. Flash flooding due to excessive rainfall is possible.
The upper-level trough that has been in control of our weather for the past several days is going to weaken considerably as we go through tonight and into tomorrow. This is going to allow an upper-level ridge to build into and strengthen over the western U.S. as we go through the next few days. This upper-level ridge is going to provide Montana with sunnier, drier, and hotter weather through the weekend. Another upper-level trough will then work its way into the northern U.S. early next week bringing cooler temperatures and a few showers/storms to our area.
Scattered showers and thunderstorms will taper off and skies will clear as we go through this evening and tonight. It is also going to be cool tonight as lows are going to be in the upper 40s and low to mid 50s in most locations.
For tomorrow, we are going to have mostly to mainly sunny skies with a few isolated showers and thunderstorms around during the afternoon and evening, generally in the mountains. It is also going to be warmer tomorrow than it was today as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 70s and low to mid 80s in most locations.
On Friday, we are going to have mostly sunny skies with some isolated PM showers and thunderstorms in locations east of I-15 as a disturbance clips northern Montana. It is also going to be very warm to hot on Friday as highs are going to be in the 80s and low 90s in most locations.
Lots of sunshine and mostly dry conditions (just a couple isolated PM showers and thunderstorms on Saturday) are then expected this weekend. It is also going to be hot on Saturday as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 80s and low to mid 90s, and we are going to have a wide range of temperatures on Sunday as highs are going to range from the mid 70s to the low 90s, with the coolest temperatures along the western half of the Hi-Line. There is also going to be a breeze around on Saturday and Sunday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 25 mph, and wind gusts up to 40 mph are going to be possible at times, with Sunday currently forecasted to be the breezier day.
Cooler temperatures are then expected on Monday and Tuesday as highs are going to be in the 70s and low 80s on Monday and the mid to upper 60s and low to mid 70s on Tuesday. A few showers and thunderstorms are also possible on these two days as an upper-level trough is going to be in control of our weather. We are also going to have mostly sunny skies on these two days. It is also going to be a bit breezy early next week as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph. This wind is also going to be coming out of the north, which may bring wildfire smoke back into Montana.
