What a nice start to the month of October! Yes, it was breezy today, but outside of the wind, it was a beautiful day with partly to mostly sunny skies, mostly dry conditions, and pleasant temperatures. As we go through the next few days, an upper-level trough will be slowly passing through our area providing us with precipitation and cooler temperatures.
We are going to have mostly clear skies and mostly dry conditions tonight. It is also going to be cool tonight as lows are going to be in the 40s in most locations. The wind will diminish this evening, with just a light breeze overnight in most spots (still a little breezy along the Rocky Mountain Front).
Less wind is in the forecast for tomorrow as in most areas sustained wind speeds are going to be between 5 and 15 mph. Along the Rocky Mountain Front, it will be a bit breezy tomorrow as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph. We are also going to have increasing clouds tomorrow with a few scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms around the Helena area and in southern portions of north-central Montana late tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow evening. It is also going to be mild again tomorrow as highs are going to range from the mid 60s near the Divide to the low 80s in northeastern Montana, with most locations topping out in the 70s.
There are then going to be scattered showers around tomorrow night and Friday. Although there will be scattered showers around on Friday, it is not going to be a wash-out and most of the football games should be dry. We are also going to have mostly cloudy skies tomorrow night and Friday. Much cooler temperatures are also expected on Friday as highs are going to be in the 60s and mid to upper 50s.
Wet and much cooler weather is expected this weekend as the upper-level trough continues to impact the state. On Saturday, we are going to have mostly cloudy skies with scattered rain showers around throughout the day, and there will be some snow in the mountains. There are then going to be scattered areas of rain and mountain snow around Saturday night. On Sunday, there will be some lingering rain and mountain snow around during the morning in central Montana, but the precipitation will taper off as the morning goes on and the skies will gradually clear out from north to south as the day goes on as well, so the afternoon and evening will be partly to mostly sunny and mostly dry.
Many of the mountain ranges in central and north-central Montana will see their first accumulating snowfall of the season this weekend. Right now, a coating to a few inches of accumulation is expected. A few lower elevation locations near the mountains, like Helena and Lewistown, may also see a little snow this weekend, but little to no snow accumulation is expected as most of the accumulating snow will remain above 6000 feet.
The most beneficial precipitation over the next several days will be in southern and central Montana. Most locations will receive at least .25” of precipitation, with some areas receiving over 1” of rain. Around the Helena area, .25” to .75” of precipitation is expected, with higher amounts possible in the mountains. In north-central Montana, amounts will vary from a few hundredths of an inch to possibly over 1” of precipitation. The lowest amounts will be along the Hi-Line, with higher amounts in southern portions of north-central Montana and along the Rocky Mountain Front.
A big cool-down is also expected this weekend. On Saturday, highs are going to be in the 50s and low 60s and on Sunday highs are going to be in the 40s and low 50s, which is well below average for this time of year. A widespread freeze is then expected Sunday night with lows in the 20s and low 30s. It is also going to be a little breezy this weekend as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 5 and 20 mph.
An upper-level ridge will build back into our area early next week, providing us with lots of sunshine, dry conditions, and warming temperatures as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 50s and low to mid 60s on Monday; the 60s on Tuesday; and the mid to upper 60s and low 70s on Wednesday.
