BOZEMAN – This weekend looks warm and dry for SW Montana. A blocking High-pressure ridge is still the dominant pattern. This ridge is stalled over the Pacific NW sending the Polar jet stream way up into Canada and then dropping back down into far eastern Montana.
Temperatures will continue to trend cooler in the far eastern half of the state but remain near to above normal for the western half through the weekend into early next week.
The flow aloft will begin to shift more out of the WSW this weekend into early next week helping temperatures warm into the 70s with a few lower 80s possible. This will also help waves of wildfire smoke to continue to push into our region.
There is an increasing fire weather hazard for central Montana on Sunday. Increasing surface winds, lower humidity and warmer temperatures will create much higher fire danger Sunday afternoon and evening.
Locally, this includes Meagher county. A Fire Weather Watch is up from noon Sunday through 9 pm Sunday evening.
