It has been a cool and showery end to the work week as temperatures have been in the 60s and 70s and there have been scattered showers and a few thunderstorms around. Over the past few days, most locations have received anywhere from nothing to a few tenths of an inch of rain, but there were some locations that received higher amounts, especially in central Montana.
There will continue to be some scattered showers and thunderstorms around this evening, generally in locations east of I-15, so if you are heading to any of the local football games, you may want to take a rain jacket with you just in case. A lot of the football games should be dry though.
Tonight, there are going to be some scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms around, mainly in locations east of I-15. We are also going to have partly cloudy to mostly clear skies tonight around Helena and partly to mostly cloudy skies tonight in north-central Montana with some areas of fog developing after midnight. It is also going to be cooler tonight than it was last night as lows are going to be in the mid to upper 40s and low to mid 50s.
LABOR DAY WEEKEND FORECAST:
Tomorrow will feature partly to mostly sunny skies with some areas of fog around during the morning. In eastern portions of north-central Montana (east of a line from Havre to Lewistown), there will be a few showers and isolated thunderstorms around throughout the day. Elsewhere in north-central Montana, it will be mostly dry tomorrow, but a few isolated showers and thunderstorms are possible during the late afternoon and evening. Around Helena, outside of a couple stray showers/storms during the afternoon and evening, it will be dry tomorrow.
It is also going to be warmer tomorrow than it was today as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 70s and low to mid 80s. The wind will be light in most areas, but in/around the mountains in central Montana and along the Rocky Mountain Front, it will be a little breezy later on tomorrow as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph.
Sunday and Monday (Labor Day) 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 in most locations. There is also going to be little to no wind on these two days. Definitely spend as much time outdoors as you can on these two days, since the weather will be nearly perfect for the unofficial end of summer.
One thing to note though is that some haze will return to the Helena area and the Rocky Mountain Front on Sunday and Monday, which may reduce the visibility and cause minor impacts to the air quality. As of right now, it looks like the worst of the haze will remain along and west of the Divide.
A few isolated showers and thunderstorms are possible on Tuesday and Wednesday as a weak disturbance impacts our area. We are also going to have partly to mostly sunny skies and cooler temperatures on these two days as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 70s and low to mid 80s. There will also be a little breeze (5-20 mph) around in some areas during the PM hours on these two days.
Mostly sunny skies and dry conditions will return for the end of next week as high pressure will once again be in control of our weather. It is also going to be warm on Thursday and Friday as highs are going to be in the upper 70s and low to mid 80s in most locations.
