Smoky until Tuesday, then big changes towards the end of the week

MISSOULA – Poor air quality across much of Western Montana today and tomorrow.

The high pressure and the hot, dry weather are causing the wildfires in Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington to produce a lot of smoke.

Maximum temperatures on both Monday and Tuesday will be above 27 degrees.

Then, on Wednesday, there will be a big change in our weather pattern.

A strong low pressure system will move from the Pacific to the coast and reduce temperatures to 21 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, 10 degrees Celsius on Thursday and 10 to 15 degrees Celsius on Friday.

This system is also expected to bring widespread, persistent rain. Models are showing at least 0.50 inches of rain for all of Western Montana through Saturday.

However, there is a good chance that more rain will fall: There is about a 50-60% chance that 1 to 2 inches of precipitation will fall across western Montana from Wednesday through Saturday.

The rain seems to be receding by the weekend, which will lead to a beautiful autumnal weekend with maximum temperatures between 15 and 21 degrees.