A HIGH WIND WARNING has been issued for most of Montana from Friday afternoon into Saturday.
A RED FLAG WARNING has been issued for southwest and southern Montana for Friday afternoon and evening.
It's not that often a HIGH WIND WARNING gets issued for most of the state ahead of a major cold front that will literally blow through the state Friday night into Saturday. A powerful wind event is headed to Montana that could cause damage to branches, trees and possibly structures. Hope you enjoyed Thursday's relative peace because calm conditions and light wind will not last much longer. Friday will begin sunny with a light wind. The wind will ramp up through the morning hours into the afternoon. Valley locations like Helena will be last to see the wind pick up as inversions will keep these areas calm for longer. The southwest flow will push highs well up into the 70s and low 80s. The combination of high wind and low humidity will create dangerous fire weather conditions. New fires could take off. Existing fires like the Sheep Creek Fire near Elk Park could grow and emit large smoke plumes. The cold front creating the wind will cross western Montana on Friday evening and push across the state through the overnight. The wind will be very powerful along the front with gusts possibly topping out between 50-75mph. Power outages are possible with some damage to branches, trees and structures. Some of that wind will carry over into Saturday but the wind will gradually ease up through the afternoon. Highs will be cooler, back down in the 50s and 60s along with mainly clear skies. Sunday will be mostly sunny with a much lighter wind across the state. Highs will be in the 60s and 70s. One thing missing from this forecast is precipitation. There does not appear to be any significant rain or snow anytime soon as the first half of October appears very dry.
Have a great day,
Curtis Grevenitz
Chief Meteorologist
