Cloudy, cool, and wet weather is expected for most of the next week as multiple disturbances impact our area.
Tonight, a more widespread and steadier rain will develop as we go through the night in central Montana and in portions of north-central Montana, including around Helena, Stanford, Lewistown, and possibly Great Falls. Elsewhere, there will be a few showers around tonight. This larger area of rain will persist through tomorrow morning, with the precipitation becoming more showery as we head into the afternoon and evening. Scattered showers will then continue to impact all of central and north-central Montana tomorrow night and Thursday, with the showers gradually tapering off during the second half of Thursday.
Precipitation will be in the form of rain below pass level and snow at and above mountain pass level (above ~5500 to 6000 feet). Some of the mountain passes, including Bozeman, Homestake, Kings Hill, and Monida, as well as I-15 between Helena and Butte may be slick late tonight and tomorrow morning, so please use caution when driving.
Precipitation amounts will vary greatly over the next two days. The lowest precipitation amounts will be in north-central Montana along the Hi-Line from just east of the Rocky Mountain Front to the Phillips/Valley County line where <.25” of precipitation is expected. The highest precipitation amounts will be in central Montana, including around Helena, Stanford, and Lewistown, where .75” to 1.5+” of precipitation is expected. Elsewhere, most locations will generally receive between .15” and .75” of precipitation, including Fort Benton, Great Falls, and Glasgow.
It is also going to continue to be cool the next two days as highs are going to range from the mid 40s to the mid 60s and lows will be in the 40s and mid to upper 30s. On Wednesday, there is just going to be a little breeze around. Gusty winds are then expected on Thursday in locations east of I-15 as gusts up to 40 mph are possible.
As of right now, Friday and Saturday look to be the warmest and driest days over the next week. On Friday, we are going to have mostly cloudy skies with a few showers around, especially in the mountains. We are then going to have increasing clouds on Saturday with isolated showers and thunderstorms around, generally during the PM hours. It is also going to feel nice outside on these two days as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 50s and low to mid 60s on Friday and the 60s on Saturday. There is also not going to be much wind around on these two days.
Another storm system will bring another round of scattered rain and mountain snow showers to the state Sunday into Monday. Snow levels will be lower with this storm, so some lower elevation locations near the mountains may see some snow. Cooler temperatures will also return for these two days as highs are going to be back in the 50s in a lot of locations. It is also going to be a bit breezy on Sunday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph.
