An AIR QUALITY ALERT is in effect for all of Montana until at least 9am Saturday. The air quality is going to be unhealthy for everyone at times.
Smoky/hazy skies and poor air quality will continue to be an issue this weekend. At times, the air quality may be unhealthy for everyone, so make sure you limit your time outdoors this weekend, especially if you are sensitive to increased particulate matter in the atmosphere. Later on Sunday, the flow aloft will start to come out of the west and southwest rather than the northwest, which should start to bring some cleaner air into our area. A cold front is then going to pass through our area on Monday, and this should bring widespread cleaner air into our area, which should stick around for most of next week.
For tonight, we are going to have mostly to mainly clear skies with a couple isolated showers and thunderstorms around along the Hi-Line, generally before midnight. It is also going to be warmer tonight than it has been over the past few nights as lows are going to be in the mid to upper 40s and low to mid 50s.
For this weekend, we are going to have mostly to mainly sunny skies with some isolated showers and thunderstorms around, mainly during the PM hours. It is also going to be warm this weekend as highs are going to be in the upper 70s and low to mid 80s tomorrow and the 80s and low 90s on Sunday. There is also only going to be a little breeze around this weekend as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 5 and 20 mph. Also, all the sunshine we see this weekend is going to be filtered/obscured due to the smoke and haze that is going to be around.
There are then going to be scattered showers and thunderstorms around on Monday as a cold front passes through our area. It is also going to be breezy and a little cooler on Monday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 25 mph, and highs are going to be in the 70s and low to mid 80s. This cold front should also get rid of most of the smoke.
On Tuesday, we are going to have partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies and mostly dry conditions. There are then going to be some scattered showers and thunderstorms around on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, as multiple disturbances pass through our area. We are also going to have partly to mostly cloudy skies on Wednesday and Thursday and partly cloudy skies on Friday.
The temperatures are also going to cool down some between Tuesday and Wednesday as highs on Tuesday are going to be in the 70s, and highs on Wednesday are going to be in the mid to upper 60s and low 70s. Highs are then going to remain in the mid to upper 60s and low 70s on Thursday. The temperatures are then going to start to warm back up on Friday as highs are going to be in the upper 60s and low to mid 70s. It is also going to be a bit breezy on Tuesday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph.
