Good Morning and Happy Monday! It was a beautiful 4th of July weekend with a good amount of sunshine, mostly dry conditions, and warm temperatures. July 4th was one of the nicest days that we had had so far this summer, basically perfect weather for the nation’s 250th birthday!
A disturbance brought some scattered showers and thunderstorms to the state yesterday afternoon through the overnight, and a few of the thunderstorms were severe with large hail and damaging winds. A viewer north of Winifred, MT, sent in this photo of golf ball sized hail that fell with a severe thunderstorm Sunday evening north of Winifred.
This morning, we are waking up to partly cloudy to mostly clear skies, dry conditions, and cool temperatures. Around Helena, it is going to be mostly cloudy today and there will be some scattered showers and thunderstorms around during the late afternoon and evening. In north-central Montana, it is going to be partly cloudy and mostly dry today, just a few isolated showers and thunderstorms around during the evening as a disturbance begins to impact the state.
In north-central Montana, there are going to be scattered showers and thunderstorms around tonight and tomorrow, generally in locations east of I-15, as this disturbance continues to work its way through our area. It is also going to be partly to mostly cloudy tonight and tomorrow. Around Helena, there are going to be scattered showers and thunderstorms around tonight, generally before midnight, and there are going to be isolated showers and thunderstorms around tomorrow, generally during the morning. It is going to be partly cloudy tonight and partly cloudy to mostly sunny tomorrow.
All thunderstorms that develop later today, tonight, and tomorrow, will be capable of producing gusty to strong winds, medium to large-sized hail, frequent lightning, and heavy rainfall, which could lead to flash flooding, so please keep an eye to the sky if you are going to be outdoors at all.
Cooler temperatures are expected today and tomorrow as highs are going to be back in the 70s and low 80s in most locations. There is also only going to be a little breeze around on these two days as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 5 and 20 mph.
On Wednesday, there may be some areas of fog around during the morning, otherwise, expect partly to mostly sunny skies, with the cloud cover increasing as the day goes on. There will also be some scattered showers and thunderstorms around Wednesday afternoon and evening as another disturbance works its way through the state.
An upper-level ridge will strengthen and be in complete control of our weather for the end of this week and this weekend, providing us with lots of sunshine, dry conditions, and the hottest temperatures of the summer so far. From Thursday through Saturday, it is going to be mostly sunny and dry. It will then be partly cloudy and dry on Sunday. It is also going to be very warm for the end of this week as highs are going to be in the 80s and low 90s. It is then going to be hot this weekend as highs are going to be in the 90s in most locations. There will also be a breeze around in some areas on Friday and Saturday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph, and this wind will elevate the fire danger.
Have a marvelous Monday!
Chief Meteorologist Ryan Dennis
