BOZEMAN – A SW flow will continue through the weekend and could produce a few showers or thunderstorms over SW Montana mostly on Saturday.
The cool and wet weather pattern on Friday helped produce improved air quality with local monitoring stations holding in the green or good air quality ratings. Over the weekend less moisture could bring back hazy skies to the region.
Temperatures will begin to climb above normal by the end of the weekend into early next week. Forecast highs will be around 5 to 15 degrees above normal for a few days but a sharp drop in temperatures will arrive beginning Wednesday.
A Pacific storm currently holding in the Gulf of Alaska will dig slowly down the west coast and begin to move inland Tuesday evening. A strong cold front from this storm will arrive Tuesday night. Temperatures will be falling below normal by Wednesday and stay cooler than normal through the end of next week.
There will be increasing moisture with this system as well and if the timing is just right snow could mix with rain in the higher mountain valleys Thursday morning. Snow is possible for mountain ranges but should melt away during the late afternoon hours.
The 6 to 10 outlook is cooler than normal with above normal precipitation for SW Montana through September 23rd but the 8 to 14 day outlook September 23 – 29 is favoring above normal temperatures and back to drier than normal conditions.
