BILLINGS — A strong ridge of high pressure brought sunshine and hotter-than-average highs to Montana and Wyoming on Thursday under a mostly sunny to sunny sky area-wide. Tonight will also be mostly clear to clear and mild with lows a handful of degrees above average to start our day Friday.
Friday will likely be our hottest day in the short term and long term, with the strong ridge remaining in control of our weather pattern. We will have a mostly sunny sky, but there will be a little more haze and smoke returning to our previously blue sky, too. Excessive Heat Warning Friday with highs in the 100s.
We can expect increasing clouds this weekend as the ridge overhead weakens somewhat. It won't completely collapse, but several small disturbances will begin to chip away at it, and we'll have a cooling trend going forward. We'll also have daily chances for showers and thunderstorms, but no all-day rain-outs.
