It's the next to last weekend of summer, and it will be a beauty right up until the end. The cooler and cleaner air will linger for the start of the weekend, but heat and smoke will build back into the state before the weekend is over. After a frosty, chilly start, Saturday will be a gorgeous late summer day with highs in the 70s to around 80. The air will be clean, the sky clear and there will be a light east wind for most of the state. A light southwest breeze will increase off of the Rocky Mountain Front and through north-central Montana. Temperatures and wind will increase once again for Sunday and Monday. As the flow switches around to the southwest, expect wildfire smoke to increase and air quality to decrease beginning late Sunday and continuing to worsen through Monday into Tuesday. Moisture from Hurricane Kay, which is currently off of Baja California, could move up across a lot of the West toward the middle and end of next week. This is exactly what we need to get the West closer to the end of fire season. Rain and consistently cooler temperatures are needed on wildfires outside of Montana to really end the smoky skies. The second half of September will feature cooler temperatures and more rain opportunities with mountain snow. More widespread precipitation is possible next weekend, but wildfires will continue to emit tons of smoke until then.
Have a great weekend!
Curtis Grevenitz
Chief Meteorologist
