MISSOULA — After the very cool Spring weather, today will feel quite warm with highs in the 70s and 80s. Expect mostly to partly cloudy skies overhead.
Active weather moves in for the weekend with the forecast shaping up to bring two separate systems.
The first moves in Thursday night into Friday morning with the chance for strong to severe thunderstorms. These storms will first develop in Idaho after 6 pm tonight. Potential threats are strong winds, brief but heavy rain, and quarter size hail. These storms will then move into western Montana after 9pm with the main threats being brief but heavy rain, gusty winds and small hail.
Expect rain showers to continue throughout the morning on Friday. Then with afternoon heating another round of strong thunderstorms could develop Friday afternoon. Threats to plan for are heavy rain and small hail.
Light scattered showers will stick around Saturday for west-central and southwest Montana while northwest Montana stays mostly dry. Expect highs Saturday in the 50s to low 60s.
The second system we are watching then moves in Sunday into Monday. This system has trended wetter and colder over the past 24 hours. Snow levels will fall to around 6000 feet by Sunday. For those with holiday weekend plans, please plan accordingly for wet and raw conditions in the back country. For most, Sunday and Monday will be cool and rainy days. Expect the potential for periods of moderate to heavy rain along with cool and breezy conditions.
