The large wildfires burning in southwestern Montana have received some very beneficial rain over the past couple of days. This rain has helped the firefighters out big time, and has really limited the growth on these fires!
In north-central Montana, there have been scattered showers around today and it has been a lot cooler than it has been all week. Around Helena, it has been a cool and rainy day, and as of 5pm, the Helena airport has received .47” of rain since Wednesday evening.
The bullseye for precipitation will shift from the Helena area up into north-central Montana for tonight and tomorrow. In north-central Montana, showers are likely this evening and tonight. Around Helena, showers will continue this evening, but will taper off early tonight. A couple isolated thunderstorms are also possible this evening and tonight.
Tomorrow will be a wet day in north-central Montana as showers are likely, especially in locations east of I-15. A few isolated thunderstorms are also possible later on tomorrow. For the Helena area, tomorrow will be drier than today was, but there will still be some scattered showers and thunderstorms around, generally during the afternoon and evening.
Full Forecast:
It will continue to be overcast to mostly cloudy tomorrow in north-central Montana, while partly to mostly cloudy skies are expected tomorrow around Helena. Scattered showers will continue tomorrow night in north-central Montana east of I-15, especially during the first half of the night. The skies will also gradually clear out from west to east as the night goes on, which will allow a few areas of fog to develop.
North-central Montana will receive the most rainfall from this evening through Saturday morning. Most locations around and east of I-15 will receive .1” to .5” of additional rain, with a few areas receiving over .5” of additional rain. Around the Helena area and west of I-15 in north-central Montana, generally less than .25” of additional rain is expected.
Tonight, lows are going to be in the 50s and low 60s in most locations. Below average temperatures are expected again tomorrow as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 60s and low to mid 70s in most locations. It is also going to be a bit breezy in and around the higher elevations in central Montana tomorrow afternoon and evening as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph.
On Saturday, we are going to have partly to mostly sunny skies with a few lingering showers around during the morning in eastern portions of north-central Montana and a few isolated showers and thunderstorms around during the afternoon and evening. The temperatures will also begin to warm back up on Saturday as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 70s and low to mid 80s.
Sunday and Monday will feature some awesome weather as we are going to have lots of sunshine, mainly dry conditions, and very warm temperatures as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 80s and low 90s. There is also going to be little to no wind on these two days.
The temperatures will cool back down for the middle of next week as highs from Tuesday through Thursday are going to be in the mid to upper 70s and low to mid 80s. On Tuesday, we are going to have partly cloudy skies with a few showers and thunderstorms around, generally in locations east of I-15, as a disturbance passes through our area. Mostly sunny skies and dry conditions are then expected on Wednesday and Thursday.
