MISSOULA — Our thunderstorm chances increase each day this week as monsoonal moisture meanders further northward before really ramping up on Wednesday and Thursday.
Watch the forecast:
By Wednesday, available atmospheric moisture will be around 200% of normal, meaning thunderstorms will pose a high threat for very heavy downpours.
Since there’s no cold front to drive these storms or kick them out of the area, it will limit the supercell potential for developing storms, but will also keep storm movement very slow. Thus, the potential for flash flooding remains high.
The NWS is urging folks to pay attention to the forecast if you live near a wildfire burn scar, or in/near an area with a history of flash flooding, or have plans to be anywhere near either of these two locations during the Tuesday through Friday timeframe.
Highs will drop into the 70s across west central Montana on Wednesday and upper 70s to low 80s for Northwest Montana, where there’s a much lesser threat of any moisture at all.
There’s a lingering chance for an isolated storm or two Friday with partly cloudy skies otherwise and highs in the low 80s… we’re back into the mid 80s this weekend with mostly sunny skies and an isolated, late-day thunderstorm possible.
Watch the 24/7 StormTracker Weather stream below:
