Westerly Wind Bag

Last week Montana felt the wrath of straight up old fashioned beatings of the sun. Temperatures across the state rose to uncomfortable levels of heat, culminating in multiple daily high temperature records falling on Sunday. One of the standout high temperatures from Sunday was Glasglow, who saw some sensors read 111 degrees; but the official high from the National Weather Service was 108. That was still enough to break the daily record high that was set pre-WW2 in 1936 of 105 degrees. Monday a cold front begins pushing through Montana, initially entering around the Northern Rocky Mountain Front. This front will provoke showers and thunderstorms across the state and breezy conditions ahead of the cold front. The potential exists for multiple dry thunderstorms (which already pose a fire danger in dry conditions) across Montana. What concerns me is the strength of westerly winds that will rip across the state to fill the void behind the front. For that reason a HIGH WIND WARNING is in effect for most of central and western Montana. Extreme FIRE WEATHER WARNINGS are in effect just to the southwest and southeast of the state. Nearly all of east-central Montana is also under a HEAT ADVISORY; as temperatures ahead of the front in eastern Montana may easily top 100 degrees before the passage. Drier weather and warming should last alongside mostly clear to clear skies for the remainder of your workweek before slight chances for afternoon showers pop up Friday and Saturday. As always: A cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition.
Be nice to each other.
- Meteorologist Trey Tonnessen -