BOZEMAN – Another round of thunderstorms will impact SW Montana Tuesday afternoon and evening with additional afternoon thunderstorms possible Wednesday and Thursday afternoon.
The Storm Prediction Center has a low risk or “marginal” risk for a few strong to severe thunderstorms for most of SW Montana Tuesday afternoon. The greatest concern will be damaging wind gusts. Numerous lightning strikes along with gusty winds could produce new fire starts. Hopefully, these storms will also produce brief heavy rain.
The other and ongoing issue is wildfire smoke. A strong SW flow aloft will continue to push considerable smoke up into Montana from California. An AIR QUALITY ALERT continues until further notice. This means you should try and limit your outdoor exposure to unhealthy air quality as much as possible.
A pattern change is coming this weekend as an upper-level trough digs into Montana producing a NW flow aloft. This should help improve air quality but it will also produce cooler than normal temperatures and a better chance for scattered showers with a slight chance for higher elevated mountain peak snow.
