BUTTE — Overnight, skies turn partly cloudy as temperatures drop into the mid-30s, then Tuesday morning warms back into the lower 60s under mostly sunny skies.
That warmth holds right through Wednesday with highs int he mid-60s, with highs running 12 to 13 degrees above the late-October average of the low 50s. A broad ridge is keeping the storm track well to the north and funneling unseasonably mild air across southwest Montana through midweek.
The extended forecast brings a significant pattern change Thursday night into Friday, as a cold front sweeps through and drops afternoon highs from the low 60s all the way to the mid-40s, or about 6 degrees below average for late October.
Rain arrives Thursday night with around a quarter inch, then continues Friday with a third to a half inch more before skies clear for the weekend, with highs settling into the low-to-mid 40s.
