MISSOULA — A partial lunar eclipse will occur over the western Montana sky just after sunset tonight. The event will officially begin at 8:33 PM and peak at 10:12 PM. At the peak time, 93% of the moon will be covered by the Earth's shadow, causing it to appear a reddish-orange color. The eclipse will end at 11:54 PM.
We have a storm system moving through the area, causing partly to mostly cloudy skies this afternoon. By the time the sun sets, clouds should be moving out of the area, giving us opportunities to see the eclipse. Most of central and eastern Montana will not be so lucky with clouds and thunderstorms late tonight.
There is also a slight chance for the northern lights to accompany the eclipse. The Space Weather Prediction Center has a G2 Geomagnetic Storm Watch for the next few nights. So be sure to get away from the city lights tonight!
Submit your pictures of the eclipse through the KPAX Weather app or email it to us at photo@kpax.com for a chance to be featured on our newscast!
Cloud cover will return to southern Montana tomorrow, becoming sunnier the further north you are in the state. Most of western Montana will be dry until the weekend.
A storm system coming in from the Pacific is set to bring scattered to numerous rain showers and thunderstorms on Saturday, especially to the Bitterroot Valley. We are expect a wetting rain as far north as Missoula, with generally less precipitation further north.
Some rain showers will last into Sunday morning before the storm system moves out of the area Sunday afternoon. Temperatures will be fall-like behind a cold front moving through on Saturday. Expect weekend highs in the 60s and 70s.
The pattern stays active into next week, with more opportunist for larger-scale storm systems to impact our area.
