A RED FLAG WARNING is in effect for most of northeastern Montana until 4am Thursday.
A LAKE WIND ADVISORY is in effect for Fort Peck Lake from 10am until 9pm Thursday.
There are going to be a few scattered showers and thunderstorms around this evening in central Montana and east of I-15 in north-central Montana. A couple of these thunderstorms may be severe with damaging winds (58+ mph). The wind is also going to gradually diminish this evening.
Tonight, we are going to have mostly clear skies with a few isolated showers and thunderstorms around before midnight. It is also going to be mild again tonight as lows are going to be in the 50s and low 60s. There will just be a little breeze around tonight for most of us, but along the Rocky Mountain Front and the Continental Divide, it will remain breezy tonight as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 25 mph.
For tomorrow, we are going to have increasing clouds with a few scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms around during the afternoon and evening in north-central Montana as a cold front passes through our area. Around Helena, we are going to have lots of sunshine and mainly dry conditions tomorrow. This cold front is also going to cool our temperatures down some as highs tomorrow are going to be in the 80s and mid to upper 70s in most locations, with the warmest temperatures in northeastern Montana. A brief period of increased haze/smoke is also expected tomorrow with the passage of the cold front, especially along the Hi-Line. Impacts to the air quality should be minimal though.
Widespread gusty winds are also expected tomorrow as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 30 mph, and wind gusts over 40 mph are possible. This wind will initially be coming out of the west/southwest, but the wind direction will change to come out of the north and northwest during the afternoon and evening after the cold front passes through.
We are then going to have picture perfect weather on Friday as we are going to have lots of sunshine, dry conditions, little wind (5-15 mph for most), and seasonable temperatures as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 70s and low to mid 80s.
Beautiful summer weather is in the forecast for this weekend as we are going to have partly to mostly sunny skies and dry conditions on Saturday and mostly sunny skies and dry conditions on Sunday. It is also going to be very warm/hot this weekend as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 80s and low to mid 90s. There is also going to be a bit of a breeze around this weekend as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph, and this wind will keep the fire danger elevated.
Unsettled weather will briefly return early next week as a disturbance impacts our area. On Monday, we are going to have increasing clouds with some scattered showers and thunderstorms around, especially during the afternoon and evening. We are then going to have partly cloudy skies on Tuesday with some isolated showers and thunderstorms around. The temperatures are also going to cool down a lot over these two days as highs are going to be in the 70s and low 80s on Monday and the mid to upper 60s and low to mid 70s on Tuesday. It is also going to be breezy on Monday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph.
Lots of sunshine, dry conditions, little wind, and warmer temperatures (highs in the mid to upper 70s and low 80s) are then expected on Wednesday as high pressure builds back into our area.
