Fires, both new and old, have grown and remained active in the warm and windy weather of yesterday. This produced heavy smoke plumes at times that extended through the state. The Windy Rock, Devil Mountain, and Sandbar 2 fires are of particular concern to the Helena area due to the production of smoke. West to north winds will persist today, blowing in the smoke, but an east wind picks up over the weekend, blowing the smoke away.
A cold front has already come through western Montana. We will have cooler temperatures today with highs in the upper 70s to low 80s. Some morning thunderstorms continue to exit eastern Montana, but most everybody will be dry by the afternoon.
This dry and relatively cool pattern persists through the weekend and into next week. You will notice that not a whole lot changes in the forecast day-to-day. An upper atmospheric blocking pattern, known as an Omega Block, sets in by early next week, keeping our weather conditions "stagnant".
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WEATHER ALERTS:
NONE
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Helena Temperature Records Today:
High: 95 (2011)
Low: 38 (1933)
AVG: 83/52
Great Falls Temperature Records Today:
High: 99 (1894)
Low: 38 (2018)
AVG: 82/49
Have a great Thursday
Joey Biancone
Meteorologist
