Highs are about 20 degrees above normal in the Helena and Great Falls areas Thursday as a ridge of high pressure brings unseasonable heat towards the Treasure State. We'll reach the mid-70s to low-80s in many Montana towns today. Several cities will approach record breaking heat within a few degrees, but looks like no records are on track to be broken.
Conditions will be warm and partly cloudy with this pattern. We had Chinook cloud formations yesterday hugging the Rocky Mountain front and we'll likely see this again today making for beautiful sunrise/sunsets.
Southwest/west wind 15-30mph sticks around today over the plains of Central and North Central Montana with strong wind gusts up to 45 mph expected towards Cut Bank, Browning, and East Glacier.
We'll cool a bit towards the weekend making for a mild start to deer/elk season Saturday. A Canadian cold front will move through Montana Sunday night into Monday morning. Next week we'll take a sharp turn with much cooler weather as well as rain and snow.
