BOZEMAN – Much needed moisture over the last 5 days did bring some minor drought relief to SW Montana. West of the divide in the Butte/Blackfoot region has been downgraded to “moderate” drought status. Just 10 days ago this region was rated as “extreme”.
The rest of SW Montana east of the divide is also seeing minor drought relief but most of this region is still sitting between “severe” and “extreme” drought conditions.
The forecast is looking favorable for more cool and wet conditions to roll back into Montana beginning Friday evening. A digging upper-level Low with a lot of disorganized precipitation will bring scattered showers, isolated thunderstorms, and higher mountain snow to the entire region Friday through Monday.
It will not be raining all the time this weekend but there will be several off and on showers impacting SW Montana and forecast models show west of the divide will see the brunt of the moisture.
Travel impacts are not likely but some of our higher mountain passes could see some minor snow accumulations this weekend.
Before the active weather pattern arrives look for stronger surface wind gusts to develop Friday as High pressure is exiting the region and an upper-level trough begins to dig into Montana. Friday afternoon surface peak wind gusts could reach the 30 to 50 mph range and in high wind prone regions gusts over 50 mph are possible Friday afternoon.
