Welcome to the final weekend of summer! It will be a beautiful weekend after all of the rain, with cleaner air, comfortable temperatures and lower fire danger. Montana and a lot of the West are moving toward the end of fire season as summer is winding down. I know, we are never truly out of fire season but the days of numerous large fires developing at once are really in the past. The recent wet and cool stretch, plus additional moisture on the way over the next 7-10 days will aid firefighters in containing and possible extinquishing many of the fires that have caused poor air quality. For the first time in weeks, Montana is no longer looking at an Air Quality Alert. Now that's a breath of fresh air. Looking longer range, next week there will be a "perfect storm" that will produce cooler temperatures, rain and mountain snow across most of the West from California all the way through Montana. Significant precipitation is likely to fall over many of the wildfires in the West. For the final weekend of summer, Saturday will be a pleasant day with partly cloudy skies and highs in the 70s. A few afternoon showers and thunderstorms are possible in the western and central areas. Sunday will have increasing clouds, showers and thunderstorms by late afternoon and evening. Highs will be in the 60s and 70s. A significant Canadian front is likely on Tuesday with showers and some high mountain snow. A more significant storm is possible for the first few days of fall. It's this storm that could bring widespread rain and snow across the West. This will help bring us closer to the end of fire season while really cleaning up the smoke.
Have a great weekend.
Curtis Grevenitz
Chief Meteorologist
