Thursday is going to be quiet, mild and mostly dry before an active few days of weather. Increasing clouds. A few late day showers near Helena. Daytime highs in the upper 60s and low 70s near Helena, low to mid 70s in central Montana and upper 70s and lower 80s in eastern Montana. Tonight is our last 7 p.m. sunset until March 8th, 2026.
Check out the forecast:
Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms will be passing through tomorrow night and Friday. A couple of the storms could be strong with heavy downpours and gusty winds for areas to the south of Helena. It will be cooler and cloudy with high temperatures in the upper 50s and 60s in central Montana and 70s in eastern Montana.
On Saturday, a cool system will move south along the Divide. Rain showers will develop as the storm moves in, eventually transitioning to snow in some areas as snow levels slowly drop from 7,000-8,000 feet Saturday morning to 4,500 to 5,500 feet by Sunday morning. The rain and mountain snow should wrap up quickly Sunday morning and skies will clear from north to south throughout the rest of the day.
This would be the first accumulating snow of the season for many of our mountain ranges. Most areas will receive a coating up to 3 inches of snow, but the higher terrain in Glacier and along the Divide could receive up to 8 inches of snow. There will also be some beneficial rain between today and Sunday across central Montana, with amounts generally between a quarter and three quarters of an inch. As you work your way north towards the Hi-Line, there will be significantly less precipitation.
This system brings in the coolest air of the season so far. High temperatures in the 50s on Saturday and 40s on Sunday. A bit of frost is possible Saturday night as temperatures dip into the 30s, then a widespread frost and freeze Sunday night as temperatures fall into the 20s across the area.
If you're not quite ready for the cooler weather, don't worry - a nice warm up is coming in for next week. We should get back into the upper 60s and 70s under abundant sunshine by Wednesday.
