GREAT FALLS — The northern Rockies have been stuck under the same weather pattern most of the last week, and that has meant that Montana and Wyoming have had to deal with more than our fair share of smoke, along with fairly hot and very dry weather. Air Quality Alerts will continue for Wyoming and western Montana through at least Sunday morning. Limit time outdoors if possible.
With the ridge to our south, and a trough over Canada, our zonal (west to east) air flow will continue over Montana and Wyoming for at least the next several days. We will have more smoke and haze along with plenty of summer heat both Sunday and Monday, but we won't be as hot as we COULD be due to the smoke in our sky. We will range from the mid 80s to the mid 90s in most areas Sunday and Monday.
Tuesday will likely be similar to Monday, but we may have a little less smoke. A weather pattern change will begin late Wednesday as a trough of low pressure moves our direction from the Gulf of Alaska. It will draw more moisture over our region, and we will have our first decent chance for showers and thunderstorms. Wet weather is most likely on Thursday, but also possible Friday and Saturday.
