An AIR QUALITY ALERT continues for western Montana.
A LAKE WIND ADVISORY is in effect for Fort Peck Reservoir.
It pretty much cannot get any grayer outside. Wildfire smoke continues to create poor air quality for a lot of western Montana. The air is a little cleaner the farther east you go, but smoke is visible in the sky across the state, across the northern Rockies, and out into the northern plains. Besides the smoke, of the the causes of the gray look outside is cloud cover that is producing light rain in western Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and all the way down to Arizona. Light rain is falling on some of the fires in western Montana and Idaho, where a lot of the smoke is coming from. Smoke is a widespread issue for much of the Pacific Northwest and the northern Rockies. Montana and much of the West is entering a wet and cool stretch that should slow down the wildfires and thus the smoke. In order for Montana's air quality to improve, the fires burning our state need rain as do the fires out of state. The next several days and through the weekend will see areas of rain, not just thunderstorms across the West. Light rain has been falling since this morning over far southwest Montana and continues to spread northeast through the evening. This rain should move right over Helena and Great Falls, and could continue through the night for some areas. Wednesday will be partly cloudy with a few isolated showers and thunderstorms, and highs will stay in the 70s. Thursday will have another solid area of rain move into the state through the afternoon and evening. Much of western and central Montana will have hours of light to moderate rain, with a slight chance of a heavier downpour along with a thunderstorm. Highs will be in the 60s and 70s. Friday will be partly cloudy with a few isolated showers or a thunderstorm, but it will be a drier day with highs in the 70s. Yet another round of showers should move through the state on Saturday, keeping the temperatures down in the 60s and 70s. There is a chance for more precipitation and even cooler temperatures on Sunday into early next week. By Tuesday, snow levels could come down to pass-level further helping firefighting efforts. Hang in there, clean air is coming.
Curtis Grevenitz
Chief Meteorologist