Wildfire smoke increased last weekend and did again across northeast Montana on Wednesday, but a front coming down from Canada should bring cleaner air across most of the state the next few days. The air quality deteriorated late on Labor Day weekend as hot, dry air allowed most wildfires to have significant growth. Toward this coming weekend, the flow will switch around to the southwest (like last weekend). With hotter temperatures, fires will be more active and the southwest flow will return smoke to our skies and air. Air quality will have to be watched this weekend and early next week. Thursday will be another nice day behind that cold front with clean air and warm temperatures as high pressure moves in. Highs will top out in the 70s and 80s for most of the state under sunny skies. If you like the weather over Labor Day, you'll probably like the weather for this upcoming weekend. Temperatures will warm up again reaching the 80s to low 90s under sunny skies. However, as the flow turns to the southwest, wildfire smoke will likely increase across the state. Hotter temperatures mean more fire activity and danger as well. Fire season is not over with yet, so please be careful. Otherwise, summer is not going away yet but it certainly is on borrowed time as we get further into September.
Have a great day,
Curtis Grevenitz
Chief Meteorologist
