MISSOULA - A mostly dry cold front moving through western Montana will bring gusty winds along with generally dry thunderstorms this afternoon and evening.
Very high fire danger is in place today due to the winds and storms. Winds today will gust around 25 mph-to-35 mph. Thunderstorms could produce even stronger wind gusts with 40 mph-to-50 mph gusts possible under the strong storms.
Behind the front, cooler temperatures move in Thursday and Friday. Highs will be in the low to upper 70s Thursday and 60s to low 70s Friday.
This cooler air will even bring the potential for some light snow to fall above 7,000 feet in the mountains of Glacier National Park Thursday night into Friday morning.
Friday night into Saturday morning, temperatures will drop down into the 20s and 30s for the higher elevation valleys (Seeley/Swan, Butte, Philipsburg, Georgetown Lake) leading to frost and freeze potential. Temperatures will be in the mid to upper 30s for all other locations across western Montana.
Keep this in mind if you have any sensitive outdoor plants.
High pressure will slowly build back in through the weekend and continue into the start of next week. Highs will return to the mid and upper 80s by Sunday and Monday.
