MISSOULA — Pleasant late summer weather will occur Friday as highs top out in the 80s with sunny skies overhead.
A dry cold front will move through western Montana Saturday afternoon and evening. In front of this system, temperatures will still be able to make it up into the 80s with sunny skies. By the afternoon however, the winds will pick up with gusts around 25-35 mph in the valleys and up to 50 mph in the higher terrain.
Area lakes will also become quite choppy. A Lake Wind Advisory is in place for Flathead Lake starting Saturday afternoon and continuing through the evening. Wave heights of 1-3 ft. will make for difficult boating conditions.
A Fire Weather Watch is also in place for all of western Montana Saturday as gusty winds lead to high fire danger.
Behind this cold front cooler air settles in Sunday and Monday. Highs Sunday will be in the 60s to low 70s and low to upper 60s Monday.
As far as precipitation is concerned, on Sunday scattered showers will be mostly confined to northwest Montana and along the Divide. Monday showers will become a bit more widespread with all of western Montana having the chance to see a few showers develop.
Another item to watch will be the chance for light snow in the mountains along the Divide in northwest Montana. With snow levels dropping to around 6,500 ft, an inch or two of snow is possible in Glacier National Park during this time.
Skies clear by Tuesday leading to sunny and very pleasant temperatures through the rest of next week as highs top out in the 70s to low 80s.