A Heat Advisory is up for Cascade, Chouteau and Hill counties through 9 p.m. for another day of high heat, with highs soaring to the mid to upper 90s this afternoon. Eastern Montana is also under a Heat Advisory from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. today as temperatures climb to 95° to 103°.
We'll see more clouds today, along with the chance for a few gusty storms during the afternoon and evening, as a cold front approaches from the west. With very dry air in place, the main threats are damaging winds over 58 mph and cloud-to-ground lightning.
The wind is also going to get stronger out ahead of the front, especially along the Rocky Mountain Front extending to I-15, with frequent gusts of 40 to 50 mph. Across the plains, it will be breezy with wind speeds between 10 and 25 mph.
A Red Flag Warning goes into effect at 2 p.m. and remains until 4 a.m. Thursday, mainly due to the threat of dry thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds later today. The fire risk is elevated across central and eastern Montana because of stronger winds expected over the next two days.
A sharp cold front moves through late tonight into Thursday morning, shifting our winds to the northwest and bringing in significantly cooler air. High temperatures will only reach the 60s and 70s west of I-15, upper 70s and low 80s in central Montana and low to mid 80s in eastern Montana. The front will also bring widespread gusty winds on Thursday, with speeds between 10 and 30 mph and gusts up to 40 mph. Please report any fires and do your part to prevent new ones!
Scattered showers will move from northwest to southeast across central and eastern Montana during the afternoon and evening.
A nice and refreshing morning with temperatures in the 40s to start our Friday, but we'll get into the low 80s in the afternoon. We'll also have lighter winds and plenty of sunshine throughout the day. We'll heat up again this weekend with temperatures into the upper 80s and low 90s both days. Cooler, unsettled weather looks to take shape early next week.
Stay cool today, Montana!
