While afternoon temperatures may still be hot, overnight lows have been cooler. As the northern hemisphere continues to tilt away from the sun, approaching the autumnal equinox, the amount of daylight is decreasing by minutes a day. More darkness means more time to cool. With more darkness, there is also a better chance of seeing the northern lights. There is a good chance over the next 36-48 hours of seeing the aurora, so look to the north at night. In the daytime, the next few afternoons will be warm, sunny and dry. Wednesday will be somewhat cooler with a north breeze up to 15mph. Highs will be in the upper 80s and lower 90s. Some areas of eastern Montana will cool down into the mid 80s for highs. Thursday will be very similar, with some cooler air over eastern Montana. Highs will be in the 80s and low 90s. Friday will be in the 80s and low 90s with a few isolated thunderstorms west of the Continental Divide. That moisture will start to spread east on Saturday with some isolated thunderstorms east of the Continental Divide out into central Montana. Highs will be in the 80s to around 90. Sunday will have a few more scattered storms over western and southern Montana. Highs will be in the 80s. There is a good chance for widespread thunderstorms producing a nice rain on both Monday and Tuesday. There is a possibility of a period of light to moderate rain as an area of low pressure drops south out of Canada with some cooler temperatures as well. This system could break the current heat that has lasted some time. The air quality should remain good for most areas, but there are new fires in western Montana and northern Idaho that are contributing smoke to our sky. Still, this year has been nothing like the fire season and smoke of last year.
Curtis Grevenitz
Chief Meteorologist
