Today's Forecast: A few thunderstorms are likely to fire off around southwest Montana on Wednesday afternoon. A couple of these thunderstorms could produce heavy rain and as a result we could also pick up some damaging wind from the base of a few of those storms. Highs are likely to build back into the upper 60s and low 70s. Most of these storms will begin to build after 1 PM and we will likely see the strongest storm potential between 3 PM and 7 PM.Showers will begin to fall apart near sunset and should clear the area by 10 PM.Winds will stay out of the south to southwest between 5-10 mph with the potential for gusty winds associated with area t-storms.
BOZEMAN: High: 72; Low: 46. Wednesday will start off sunny, but we will see afternoon clouds build and turn to scattered thunderstorms.The best potential for storms will fire off after 2 PM and will move out of the region around 8 PM.Gusty winds are possible from several of these storms and could produce winds in excess of 60 mph through the early evening.Storms are expected to move out of the region before sunset.
BUTTE: High: 68; Low: 44. Expect to see a few isolated storms fire off in the area after 1 PM and continue into the evening.The potential for gusty winds and pockets of heavy rain is our main concern and could lead to some minor localized flooding through the early evening before moving out near sunset.
DILLON: High: 69; Low: 45. Showers will begin to develop in western Beaverhead County a little after lunch and could bring some brief heavy rain and the potential of gusty wind. While the chance of damaging wind lingers, we expect the strongest storms in the region to be east of Beaverhead County this afternoon and evening. Skies will clear quickly tonight and leave lows in the middle 40s.
WEST YELLOWSTONE: High: 69; Low: 38. Expect plenty of sunshine to start the day and push our daytime highs to near 70°. Pockets of heavy rain and strong thunderstorms are likely for the afternoon and evening. A few showers could hang on through 11 PM before leaving the area or falling apart.
DRY AND SUNNY FOR THE 4TH:
Overall our temperatures are expected to top out in the upper 70s to low 80s all weekend with minimal rain chances expected.The biggest drawback to the weekend will be breezy conditions on Saturday, though we don’t expect strong winds overall.We will continue to monitor the situation as the latest data flows into the weather center.
While we expect dry conditions on Saturday, there are a few isolated chances for a stray shower or two on Sunday afternoon as our celebrations wrap up.We will continue to see temperatures above average into early next week with some scattered rain chances each afternoon.
