Gusty wind, low humidity, temperatures pushing 100 degrees and dry fuels will create critical fire weather conditions in northwest and west-central Montana Saturday.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Travis Booth says this system will be,"Conducive for fire spread, and perhaps even rapid fire spread if one were to get going.”
The gusty wind will also produce choppy, potentially dangerous water on lakes and rivers.
Booth adds the wind may lead to some minor improvement in air quality. Most of the smoke dirtying western Montana’s skies is currently blowing in from Oregon wildfires.
"Instead of being from Oregon, it’ll be from Washington, our wind-flow. The expectation is some improvement, yes, but still some smoke in that direction as well."
Saturday’s hot temperatures will drop dramatically once the dry front pushes out of the region. According to Booth, daytime highs will be closer to 80 degrees Sunday and Monday; that’s a good 15 to 20 degree difference from Saturday afternoon. Temps will creep back up into the 90s later next week.
The long-term forecast shows little to no signs of any significant rain.
