Good Wednesday morning!
For the first time in a while, Montana will not be bombarded by thunderstorms. A pattern shift is occurring that will result in quiet weather for the first time in more than a week. After rounds of severe storms, damaging wind and large hail, it will be nice to have a day without that element of danger to worry about. The next element of weather that will be concerning is developing wind. As the wind increases, so will the fire danger. Fortunately, this summer has been fairly wet and cool up to this point. Fuels are not as dry as they could be had the month been hot and dry. The wind will begin to increase on Wednesday afternoon. Gusts could top out between 20-30mph. Clouds will increase as well, becoming mostly cloudy through the day. Highs will be in the 70s to around 80. Thursday is when the wind really whips up, with some gusts topping 60mph off of the Rocky Mountain Front. Much of the state will have wind speeds exceed 30mph making for some of the worst fire conditions so far this summer. Temperatures will be cooler than normal, highs will top out in the 70s. Friday will also be a fairly windy and dry day with elevated fire danger again. Highs will remain slightly below average. This weekend will be very nice with light wind, mostly sunny skies and comfortable temperatures. After the weekend, some of the hottest weather so far this year will move into the state with widespread temperatures in the 90s.
Have a great day.
Curtis Grevenitz
