A FLASH FLOOD WATCH continues for the Horse Gulch burn scar into tonight.
A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY continues for the higher terrain of western and southern Montana into tonight.
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH continues for eastern Montana through the evening.
A tremendous storm will continue to deliver rain and higher mountain snow across the state, along with cleaner air as most wildfires saw significant precipitation. The center of the storm is directly over Montana and will keep the wet and white weather around through the night. Up to an inch of rain has already fallen in some areas, including over many of the region's wildfires. Rain, snow and cooler air over the fires in Idaho, Oregon and Montana have slowed those burns down. Less smoke is being produced and most of the state is seeing the cleanest air in quite some time. Over the next few days we will have to see just how quickly those fires heat up, if at all. Rain and mountain snow will continue into Friday morning. The storm will pull away through the morning into the afternoon. After clouds and showers early on, look for more sunshine through late morning into afternoon. A few isolated showers and thunderstorms could still occur into early evening but most of the state will have a pleasant second half of Friday. Highs will be in the 60s to around 70 with good air quality. This weekend is the final full weekend of summer. The big storm will clear in time for the weekend. Saturday will be partly cloudy and breezy with highs in the 60s and 70s. Sunday will be partly cloudy with an isolated storm or two over the western and southwestern parts of the state late in the day. Highs will be in the 70s. Monday will be partly to mostly cloudy with a few isolated thunderstorms, highs will be close to normal in the 60s and 70s. Another big storm is likely to move into the state with widespread rain and more mountain snow on Tuesday. Highs will be in the 50s and 60s in the lower elevations. This will be another storm that drops rain over the wildfires and across a thirsty state. Rain will fall through Tuesday night into early Wednesday with clearing late in the day. Overall through the end of September there will be multiple storms with rain and mountain snow, and cooler temperatures will start bringing Montana closer to the end of this year's fire season.
Enjoy the storm!
Curtis Grevenitz
Chief Meteorologist
