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Fall Weather Headed To Western Montana This Weekend

Missoula Forecast Office
/
National Weather Service

Enjoying these hot, late-summer days? If so, soak it in while you can. Fall-like weather is fast approaching.

A big, fat high pressure system parked over Montana is responsible for this unseasonably hot weather. Bob Nester, Senior Forecaster at the National Weather Service bureau in Missoula, explained.

“We’re riding above, gosh, about 10 to 15 degrees above normal for this time of year," he said. “We actually haven’t seen many of these ridges most of the summer, but yeah – it happens."

Nester said Montana has one more day of unusually hot, dry late summer conditions before a major and long-term change in the weather moves in Friday.

“[The weather] Should be unstable enough to have widespread showers and thunderstorms — up to a tenth of an inch," he said. "Some local areas could see half an inch of rain Friday."

Saturday is shaping up to be a lovely day with clear skies and highs in the upper 70s to lower 80s. Enjoy it, because beginning Sunday a low-pressure system will begin slowly rolling across the entire Northern Rockies, resulting in widespread showers.

Rainfall totals early next week will range from a quarter of an inch to over an inch in the mountains. Monday’s temps may struggle to climb out of the 60s.

“We’ll probably be in the lower to mid 70s by the end of next week, but we are not expecting a return to strong high pressure with warmer-than-normal temperatures," Nester said.

In other words, goodbye to these hot summer days and hello to autumn-like weather.

Edward O’Brien first landed at Montana Public Radio three decades ago as a news intern while attending the UM School of Journalism. He covers a wide range of stories from around the state.
edward.obrien@umt.edu.  
(406) 243-4065
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