BOZEMAN – Unseasonably warm temperatures for late April across Montana with most max temperatures reaching the 70s today and a few lower 80s. I’ll let you know if we hit any record highs today tonight at 5:30 pm and 10 pm on KXLF and KBZK.
The atmosphere will become unstable Thursday with a good chance for stronger thunderstorms to impact SW Montana.
The Storm Prediction Center has a “marginal” risk for severe thunderstorms in our region Thursday afternoon. That means a few thunderstorms could be strong enough to produce damage with either damaging hail or damaging wind gusts.
Widely scattered thunderstorms will impact SW Montana Thursday afternoon. When thunder roars go indoors! Frequent and deadly lightning, brief heavy rain, small hail, and strong wind gusts are all possible Thursday afternoon.
Another side effect with the current pattern is rapid snowmelt and rising water levels on smaller streams and creeks. The mid-level snowpack will melt with today’s very warm temperatures and Thursday’s thunderstorms. You should move equipment and livestock away from flood prone areas if you can now before the storm hits Thursday.
A cold front will also add the instability of the atmosphere Thursday but once we get behind the cold front the weather pattern will begin to stabilize Thursday evening into Friday.
