BUTTE — The unseasonable warmth continues for southwest Montana with a ridge of high pressure over much of the Intermountain West. Many locations had record highs on Monday because of that ridge, and although we weren't quite as warm today, it certainly hasn't felt like fall yet. We will have a mostly clear to clear sky tonight with lows ending up just a few degrees above average, from the upper 20s to the lower 40s Wednesday morning.
The ridge will keep our area high and dry both Wednesday and Thursday, and with the fairly clear and very dry air, we'll have large swings in temperature from early morning to late afternoon. Both Wednesday and Thursday we'll have fairly seasonable lows, but highs will be 10-15 degrees above average, staying mainly in the 70s. An approaching trough of low pressure will increase our clouds and our wind speeds on Friday as a cold front advances.
Unfortunately, our fire danger will likely increase on Friday with our continued warmer than average weather along with stronger wind from the southwest. That will turn around rapidly this weekend, however, as the trough of low pressure and cold front both continue their push over our region. Rain will turn to snow from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning, and highs will fall 30-40 degrees from Friday afternoon to Sunday. Real autumn will be here soon!
