Mainly clear skies are expected tonight as high pressure is going to continue to be in control of our weather. It is also going to be cool tonight as lows are going to be in the upper 40s and low 50s. A cold front is then going to pass through our area tomorrow, giving us partly cloudy skies and a slight chance of rain showers, mainly during the afternoon and evening. It is also going to be cooler tomorrow than it was today in central Montana as highs are only going to be in the low to mid 70s. In the eastern part of Montana, it is going to be hot again tomorrow as highs are going to be approaching 90 degrees as the cold front is going to pass through these areas after most of the daytime heating has already occurred. This cold front is also going to provide us with windy conditions tomorrow, especially from 10am to 8pm, as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 15 and 30 mph, and wind gusts are going to be between 40 and 50 mph.
On Wednesday, we are going to have mostly cloudy skies with some scattered rain showers around, mainly after 12pm and mainly in central Montana, as an upper level storm system begins to approach our area. Precipitation is then going to overspread our area Wednesday night as this storm system sets itself up to the southwest of Montana. Precipitation is then likely in all locations on Thursday and Friday as this storm system remains fairly stationary, allowing widespread moisture to work its way into our area.
From Wednesday through Friday, over .5 inches of precipitation is expected in all locations, with most locations receiving between .75 and 1.25 inches of precipitation. On Wednesday, this precipitation is going to be in the form of rain in the valleys and a rain/snow mix in the mountains as highs are going to be in the mid 50s. On Thursday and Friday, a mix of snow and rain is expected in the valleys, and all snow is expected in the mountains as highs are only going to be in the upper 30s and low 40s, and lows are going to be in the low to mid 30s. In the mountains, 6 to 18 inches of snow accumulation is expected over these three days, and because of that, there is a Winter Storm Watch in effect for the Rocky Mountain Front from 6pm Wednesday through 6pm Friday. In the valleys, there is still a lot of uncertainty regarding how much precipitation will fall as snow and when this snow will fall, but a couple inches of snow accumulation is definitely possible from Wednesday night through Friday night.
The weather is then going to start to improve this weekend as we are going to have some more sunshine around, and we are going to be a bit drier as well, although we are still going to have a chance to see some rain and snow showers on both Saturday and Sunday. The temperatures this weekend are also going to be warmer than they are going to be on Thursday and Friday as highs on Saturday are going to be in the mid to upper 40s, and highs on Sunday are going to be in the mid to upper 50s.
Partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies are then expected on Monday, and there are going to be some isolated rain showers around on Monday as well. The temperatures on Monday are also going to be closer to average for this time of year as highs are going to be in the low to mid 60s.
