An EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING has been issued for southeast Montana for Friday.
A HEAT ADVISORY has been issued for northeast and northwest Montana for Thursday and Friday.
Thursday is the beginning of August and the start of the next round of summer heat with much of the state heading into the 90s. August is no stranger to heat, and Montana along with the rest of the Northern Hemisphere is still climatologically in the hottest time of year. While the heat will build for the first few days of August, it will not last as a pattern change develops by Sunday. Another round of hot weather will move across the state beginning on Thursday. Skies will be clear and the air quality should remain good or moderate, high temperatures will reach the 90s for most of the state. Friday it gets even hotter as places like Missoula, Helena and Great Falls approach 100 degrees. Fortunately the wind does not appear very strong. Wildfire smoke from fires mainly outside of Montana could start coming back into the state and impact air quality. Saturday will be another hot day with highs nearing 100 but a few isolated thunderstorms are possible in the afternoon. Sunday a cold front will move south from Canada with scattered thunderstorms and the beginning of a cooler airmass. Temperatures will still be hot with highs in the 90s, but the cool down is coming. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are likely from Monday through Wednesday for a good part of Montana. Temperatures will be cooler than average into the first full week of August. Not that heat and fire danger are anywhere near being over, it will be nice to have a stretch of cooler and wetter than normal weather.
Thanks for reading,
Curtis Grevenitz
Chief Meteorologist
