Some Smoke & Feel of Fall

August weather has certainly taken a turn for the better over the last week. After a scorching start to the month with widespread wildfires, a week of rain and cooler temperatures has left Montana in a much improved situation. While most of the state saw some significant rain, a few areas have had more than 4"! Even with the recent rain, several lightning holdovers started small wildfires over the weekend that required response from firefighters. Meanwhile, firefighters across the state used the recent weather to gain significant advantage over many of the fires. Over the last few days, there was no significant growth on most fires. Containment on most of these fires has also had significant increases because of the firefighters' efforts. Wildfire smoke briefly increased on Monday but that smoke was from fires in California. A low pressure and cold front to the north of Montana will sweep through the state tonight and early Tuesday. The wind flow will switch around to the northwest and should push out any haze and smoke. What will blow in is much cooler air with a feel of fall. Most areas will wake up to temperatures in the 30s and 40s on Tuesday morning. The entire day will be refreshingly cool with highs only in the 60s and low 70s under mostly sunny skies. It will be a beautiful day. Wednesday will become partly cloudy with a few isolated thunderstorms developing in the afternoon. Highs will remain below average, topping out in the 70s. Thursday will have another opportunity for rain as scattered showers and thunderstorms move through central and eastern Montana. Highs again will hold in the 70s. Friday will be a partly cloudy day as another storm system approaches. It's likely that widespread rain and thunderstorms will fly through Friday night and Saturday. Temperatures will be cool in the 60s for highs. Overall, comfortable weather with the occasional showers and thunderstorms will continue into September. The worst of summer and the worst of fire season is behind us, and the rest of summer might be salvageable and quite pleasant.
Have a great day.
Curtis Grevenitz
Chief Meteorologist