A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is in effect for portions of western Montana until 12pm/2pm Friday.
A DENSE FOG ADVISORY is in effect for a lot of eastern Montana until 11am Friday.
Happy New Year! It was a pleasant start to 2026 with increasing clouds, dry conditions, little to no wind, and mild temperatures (for a lot of us).
Here is the detailed forecast:
Rain and mountain snow showers are likely around Helena tonight, and there are going to be some scattered rain, freezing rain, and snow showers around in north-central Montana tonight, generally after midnight, as a disturbance begins to impact our area. Most of the precipitation with this disturbance will be out of here by sunrise tomorrow, but there will still be some isolated rain, freezing rain, and snow showers around tomorrow, especially during the morning and especially in the mountains.
Minor ice and snow accumulations (a light glaze of ice and a dusting of snow) are possible in the lower elevations, while the mountains may receive up to 3” of snow through tomorrow evening. Roads may be slick in some areas, especially at and above mountain pass level, so please use caution when driving. There are also going to be areas of fog around tonight and tomorrow morning, especially along the Hi-Line east of I-15, and some of this fog will be dense. The fog will be freezing fog along the Hi-Line, so slick roads are possible, especially in northeastern Montana. Outside of the fog, it will be mostly cloudy to overcast tonight and tomorrow.
Lows tonight are going to be in the teens along the eastern half of the Hi-Line and the 20s and low to mid 30s elsewhere. Highs tomorrow will be in the 20s and 30s along the Hi-Line east of I-15 and the 40s and low to mid 50s elsewhere. It will also be breezy tonight along the Rocky Mountain Front and it will be breezy tomorrow along the Rocky Mountain Front and out to I-15 as well as in and around Cascade County, Chouteau County, and Judith Basin County, as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 25 mph, and wind gusts up to 40 mph are possible.
This weekend is going to be partly cloudy and mostly dry, just a little snow/rain along the Divide. There may also be some areas of fog around Saturday morning along the eastern half of the Hi-Line. On Saturday, highs are going to be in the 20s and 30s along the Hi-Line. Elsewhere, it will be mild on Saturday with highs in the 40s and low to mid 50s. It is also going to be a bit breezy in some areas on Saturday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph. Sunday will be a mild and gusty day as highs are going to be in the 40s and low to mid 50s, and sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 30 mph.
On Monday and Tuesday, it is going to be partly to mostly cloudy and mostly dry east of the Divide, just a few isolated rain and snow showers around, generally in the mountains. We are also going to continue to have above average temperatures on these two days as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 30s, 40s, and low 50s. Widespread gusty winds are also expected on these two days as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 30 mph, and wind gusts over 40 mph are possible, with the strongest wind expected on Tuesday.
The temperatures will cool down some for the latter half of next week as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 30s and low to mid 40s on Wednesday and the 30s on Thursday. Gusty winds will continue on these two days with sustained wind speeds between 10 and 30 mph. In north-central Montana, it is going to be partly cloudy and mostly dry on these two days, while around Helena, it is going to be mostly cloudy on these two days with a few snow showers around.
