Mostly sunny, windy, and mild on Thursday
We are going to have partly to mostly cloudy skies tonight with a few rain and mountain snow showers around, generally in the higher elevations and along the Hi-Line, as a disturbance works its way through our area. We are then going to have mostly sunny skies tomorrow (via decreasing clouds) with a couple isolated rain and mountain snow showers around as this disturbance leaves our area.
It is also going to be windy tonight along the Rocky Mountain Front as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 15 and 30 mph. It is then going to be very windy tomorrow along the Rocky Mountain Front as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 20 and 40 mph, and wind gusts over 50 mph are expected. East of the Rocky Mountain Front, it is going to be breezy in a lot of areas tonight as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 25 mph. We are then going to have widespread windy conditions tomorrow as sustained wind speeds in a lot of locations are going to be between 15 and 30 mph, and wind gusts over 40 mph are expected. The wind is also going to be coming out of the west or southwest in most locations tonight and tomorrow.
We are also going to have above average temperatures tonight and tomorrow as lows tonight are going to be in the 30s and low to mid 40s, and highs tomorrow are going to be in the 50s and mid to upper 40s.
On Friday, we are going to have increasing clouds with developing rain/snow during the afternoon and evening in central Montana, including around Helena and Lewistown. There are then going to be areas of rain and snow around Friday night, generally in central Montana, including around Helena and Lewistown, and in northeastern Montana, including around Glasgow, as a disturbance passes through our area. Around Great Falls and Havre, a little rain and snow is possible Friday night, but the bulk of the precipitation with this storm will remain south and east of a line from Great Falls to Havre. North and west of this line it will be mostly dry Friday night. We are then going to have decreasing clouds on Saturday with a few areas of snow and rain around during the morning, mainly in central and northeastern Montana, as this disturbance leaves our area.
In lower elevation locations that see some snow from this disturbance, light snow accumulations of a coating to a couple inches are possible. In the mountains, a few to several inches of snow accumulation is possible. The bulk of the snow accumulation with this storm system is going to miss north-central Montana though as most of north-central Montana will see little to no snow accumulation.
We are also going to get a much needed break from the wind on Friday! It is then going to be breezy in some areas on Saturday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph. The temperatures are also going to cool down some over these two days as highs are going to be in the 40s and low 50s on Friday, and the upper 30s and low to mid 40s on Saturday.
On Sunday, we are going to have partly cloudy skies with a few rain and snow showers around, generally in the mountains, as another disturbance begins to impact our area. It is also going to be very windy on Sunday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 15 and 35 mph, and wind gusts up to 50 mph are possible. We are also going to have warmer temperatures on Sunday as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 40s and low to mid 50s.
There are then going to be some scattered snow showers around the Helena area on Monday and we are going to have mostly dry conditions in north-central Montana on Monday as another disturbance passes through our area. We are also going to have partly to mostly cloudy skies and cooler temperatures on Monday as highs are going to be in the upper 30s and low to mid 40s in most locations. There is also going to be a good breeze around on Monday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 25 mph.
We are then going to have mostly sunny skies and mostly dry conditions on Tuesday and Wednesday as high pressure begins to build back into our area. It is also going to be breezy and chilly on these two days as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph, and highs are going to be in the mid to upper 30s and low to mid 40s, with Wednesday being the warmer day.
