BOZEMAN — We’ve been talking about it over the last few days, and here it comes. A long stretch of warm and dry weather is settling in, and it looks like it will stick around through next week and possibly beyond.
Friday stays warm and breezy, with afternoon highs in the mid-to-upper 70s and maybe a few low 80s.
A weak Canadian cold front slides through Friday night. It could squeeze out a few light showers across far eastern Montana Saturday morning, but for most of us, the main impact will simply be a slightly cooler day. Highs will be in the upper 60s to low 70s with light northeast winds.
Strong high pressure builds across the West Sunday through Thursday, sending temperatures well above average. We could reach the low 80s Monday, which is shaping up to be the warmest day of this stretch.
A weak cold front moves through during the middle of next week, bringing a brief and modest cooldown Tuesday. Even then, temperatures should remain above normal. Typical highs in early October are generally in the mid to upper 60s.
With the warmer temperatures and increasingly dry conditions, fire danger will begin to climb again, especially across the southern mountains and foothills, along with areas that missed out on the significant rainfall we picked up late in September. Winds will occasionally turn breezy as a few weak fronts move through, so that’s definitely something we’ll be keeping an eye on.
So, when might we see our next real chance of rain?
There is still plenty of activity across the Pacific tropics, and some of that moisture could potentially get steered toward the Continental U.S. by next weekend. But right now, confidence is very low on exactly where that moisture will go and whether it will bring us any meaningful rain.
