BOZEMAN – Widespread wildfire smoke covers most of the Pacific NW, central and northern Rockies, and extends out to the east coast.
The worst air quality today has been over western and SW Montana counties.
An AIR QUALITY ALERT has been extended again for another 24 hours into Thursday. The alert now covers Gallatin county. This means you should try and limit your exposure to the unhealthy wildfire smoke as much as possible.
1 pm air quality rating has most local reporting stations in the “Unhealthy” range.
Wildfire smoke is likely to continue to impact Montana and much of the western half of the country through Friday. Over the weekend a Pacific storm will move through the Pacific NW and northern Rockies and should bring some short-term relief from the thick smoke. But forecast models show another High-pressure ridge next week over Montana and more smoke is likely to push back into the state.
Showers and a few thunderstorms are possible as early as Friday evening west of the divide. The weekend will see below normal temperatures and scattered showers on Saturday and only a few isolated showers on Sunday.
