There are going to be some scattered rain showers and thunderstorms around today as a cold front slowly works its way through our area. With the thunderstorms today, expect brief heavy rainfall, gusty winds, small hail, and frequent lightning to be the main hazards. Some of the thunderstorms today may also be severe with damaging wind gusts and/or medium-sized hail.
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A brief but strong storm rocked Great Falls on Thursday evening:
There is also a Red Flag Warning in effect for northeastern Montana from 3pm today until midnight tonight as there is a lot of dry fuel in this part of the state, so lightning from thunderstorms may easily ignite new fires, and gusty winds from these thunderstorms may help those new fires spread rapidly.
It is also going to be very warm today in central Montana as highs are going to be in the upper 80s and low 90s. In eastern Montana, it is going to be hot again today as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 90s, and there is a Heat Advisory in effect for some of eastern Montana from 10am until 8pm today. Breezy conditions are also expected this afternoon and evening as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph.
For tonight, we are going to have partly cloudy skies with a chance of rain showers and thunderstorms, mainly before midnight and generally in locations south and east of a line from Havre to Great Falls to Helena. It is also going to be mild and a little breezy tonight as lows are going to be in the mid 50s and sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 15 mph.
We are then going to have a chance to see a few more rain showers and thunderstorms tomorrow, mainly during the afternoon and evening, as another cold front works its way through our area. Mainly dry conditions are then expected on Sunday. We are also going to have mostly sunny skies tomorrow and Sunday. The temperatures are also going to cool down some this weekend as highs tomorrow are going to be in the upper 70s and low 80s, and highs on Sunday are going to be in the low to mid 70s. It is also going to be windy tomorrow as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 15 and 30 mph, and it is going to be windy/breezy on Sunday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 25 mph.
Monday is then going to have mostly sunny skies and mostly dry conditions as high pressure is going to be in control of our weather. We are then going to have a chance to see some rain showers and thunderstorms on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday as an upper level trough approaches and passes through our area. We are also going to have partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The temperatures next week are also going to pretty comfortable for this time of year as highs are generally going to be in the mid to upper 70s.
