A DENSE FOG ADVISORY is in effect for parts of the Hi-Line and eastern Montana into Thursday.
Fairly dry and mild weather will continue into the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Weekend with only a couple of blips on the radar. One of those blips is dense, freezing fog that continues across north-central and eastern Montana including the Milk River Valley and the Missouri River Valley. The fog is freezing again on all surfaces including the roads, so there will be some slick spots. Otherwise the rest of the state continues to be quiet and not that cold. Thursday will be partly to mostly cloudy with highs generally in the 30s and 40s, still a few 20s up in the northeast part of the state with that freezing fog lingering. Friday will be a mild day with hgihs in the 40s and 50s under partly to mostly cloudy skies. A stronger southwest wind will gust up to 40mph across the plains and enough wind should occur in northeast Montana to clean up some of the fog. Another "blip" on the radar could happen Friday night into early Saturday morning with a wave of light snow, light rain and light freezing rain. Parts of north-central Montana have had two separate freezing rain events in the last week. Friday night into Saturday morning could have another light icing event. That minor system will move out by Saturday afternoon, but things could be slick early in the day. This weekend is the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday and quiet weather will continue. Another fraction of a bigger Pacific storm could bring a few flakes or drops to parts of the state Saturday and then again Sunday night, but most of the weekend will be mild and a little windy. Highs will be in the 30s and 40s. January thus far has been more like a "thaw" and that will continue for Montana for the forseeable future.
Curtis Grevenitz
Chief Meteorologist
