More wildfires throughout western North America means more smoke in the air over Montana. Most of the smoke is coming from fires in Idaho, Oregon, California and Canada. While Montana has seen below average wildfires thus far, that could change very soon. A FIRE WEATHER WATCH has been issued for parts of Montana for Wednesday, but most of the state will have an elevated fire threat for the next several days. Hot temperatures, low humidity and gusty wind will be the story through Friday. After a very dry July, these fire weather conditions will be the worst Montana has experienced so far this summer. This weekend will have slightly better conditions as temperatures cool, the humidity increases and the wind decreases. Weekend weather will actually be quite nice, but let’s just hope no new wildfires develop over the next few days. Smoke and moderate air quality will be the norm now as well. Early next week could be the hottest of the summer with temperatures rising to near 100 for many towns by Tuesday.
Be safe.
Curtis Grevenitz
Chief Meteorologist
