A HEAT ADVISORY is in effect for far western Montana until 12am Friday and for portions of north-central and south-central Montana from 12pm Thursday until 12am Friday. Highs are going to be in the mid to upper 90s and low 100s in most locations.
A RED FLAG WARNING is in effect from 12pm to 9/10pm Thursday for the Flathead Reservation and for portions of the Hi-Line in north-central Montana. Critical fire weather conditions are expected due to the combination of hot temperatures, breezy conditions, and low relative humidity, so please do your part to not start any new fires.
A FIRE WEATHER WATCH is in effect from 10am/12pm until 9pm Friday for a lot of western and northern Montana. Critical fire weather conditions are possible due to the combination of hot temperatures, gusty winds, and low relative humidity, so please do your part to not start any new fires.
Widespread smoke/haze is expected through at least Friday. This smoke/haze is going to impact the air quality, and at times, the air quality may be unhealthy for sensitive groups or unhealthy for everyone, so you may want to limit your time outdoors over the next couple of days. Outside of the smoke/haze, we are going to have mainly sunny skies tomorrow and partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies on Friday. Some isolated showers and thunderstorms are also possible on Friday as some monsoonal moisture begins to work its way into our area.
It is also going to be very hot tomorrow as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 90s and low 100s in most locations. On Friday, it is still going to be hot, but the temperatures are going to start to cool down a little bit as highs are going to range from the mid 80s to the low 100s, with the hottest temperatures in eastern Montana.
There is also going to be a breeze around tomorrow, especially during the afternoon and evening, as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 25 mph, and wind gusts over 30 mph are possible. It is then going to be very windy on Friday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 15 and 35 mph, and wind gusts over 50 mph are possible along the Rocky Mountain Front, while wind gusts over 40 mph are possible east of the Rocky Mountain Front. This wind combined with hot temperatures and low relative humidity is also going to create high fire danger, especially on Friday.
On Saturday, we are going to have increasing clouds with scattered showers and thunderstorms around, generally during the PM hours. There are then going to be more scattered showers and some thunderstorms around on Sunday and Monday as an upper-level trough is going to be in complete control of our weather. We are also going to have mostly cloudy to overcast skies on Sunday and Monday.
It is also going to be a lot cooler this weekend and on Monday than it is going to be tomorrow and Friday as highs are going to be in the 70s and low 80s in most locations. There is also going to be a little bit of a breeze around on Saturday and Monday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 5 and 20 mph.
Warmer temperatures are then expected on Tuesday and Wednesday as highs are going to be in the 80s in most locations. There are also going to be a few scattered showers and thunderstorms around on these two days, and we are going to have partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies on these two days. It is also going to be a little breezy on these two days as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 5 and 20 mph.
