BOZEMAN — The unrelenting ridge of high pressure to our south, trough of low pressure over southern Canada, and the wildfires both to our west and here in Montana continue to contribute to our current weather pattern. Air quality is unhealthy in many areas, and it is unlikely to improve much in the short term. We'll have a fairly clear sky tonight, but we will still have haze and smoke. Lows will be in the 40s, with a few lower 50s.
Saturday and Sunday we will continue to have copious amounts of sun over Montana, but there will be a lot of haze and smoke in the way due to all of our area fires. Despite all of the smoke, highs will still rise to above average levels both days. Air Quality Alerts and Red Flag Warning will be in effect through at least Saturday, but the poor air quality will likely continue through at least Monday. If you have breathing difficulties, you may want to limit your time outside, and please don't allow any sparks or fires to start.
Saturday will likely be our warmest day of the next seven days in much of Montana and Wyoming. If it weren't for all the smoke, we'd likely be setting a lot of records with the sun blazing above us. We'll have some breezes both Saturday and Sunday, but Sunday will cool a bit. A modest cooling trend will continue through the week. By Wednesday, parts of Montana will have a slight chance for showers, there will be a better chance for showers and thunderstorms on Thursday, and still a slight chance by next Friday.
