AN AIR QUALITY ALERT is in effect for portions of western and southwestern Montana until 9am Friday.
It has been very hazy again today and the air quality for most of the day has been in the “moderate” category or the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” category. The haze will diminish some as we go through this evening and tonight. There is still going to be some haze around tomorrow, especially around Helena and in western portions of north-central Montana, but it won’t be as bad as it has been the past few days, which means we will have better visibility and better air quality (good to moderate). It will then be a bit hazy on Saturday, with good to moderate air quality.
It was windy today in eastern portions of north-central Montana and it was breezy today in western portions of north-central Montana. The wind will quickly diminish this evening, with just a little breeze overnight. We are also going to have decreasing clouds this evening and early tonight, with mainly clear skies expected after midnight. There may also be some areas of frost around tonight, especially along the Hi-Line and in the typically colder valleys, as lows are going to be in the 30s and low to mid 40s, so make sure you take the necessary precautions to protect any sensitive vegetation that you may have!
WATCH THE DETAILED FORECAST:
Spectacular weather is expected tomorrow as we are going to have lots of sunshine, dry conditions, little to no wind (still a bit breezy in northeastern Montana), and pleasant temperatures as highs are going to be in the upper 60s and low to mid 70s. Definitely spend some time outside tomorrow if you can!
The beautiful weather will stick around for this weekend as an upper-level ridge remains in control of our weather. On Saturday, it is going to be mostly sunny and dry. There is also going to be a little breeze around during the afternoon and evening as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 5 and 20 mph. On Sunday, it is going to be partly to mostly cloudy, and most locations will be dry, but there will be a couple isolated showers and thunderstorms around later in the day, generally in the mountains. The temperatures will also warm back up this weekend as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 70s and low to mid 80s on Saturday and the 80s on Sunday.
Precipitation chances will return next week and the temperatures will gradually cool down as the week goes on as the upper-level ridge shifts eastward and as an upper-level trough begins to approach our area.
There will be a few scattered showers and thunderstorms around each day next week, generally during the PM hours and especially in the mountains. More locations will remain dry than see precipitation on each day though. We are also going to have partly to mostly cloudy skies next week, and the temperatures will cool down as the week goes on as highs on Monday are going to be in the upper 70s and low to mid 80s; highs on Tuesday are going to be in the mid to upper 70s and low to mid 80s; and highs on Wednesday and Thursday are going to be in the 70s in most locations.
