NWS Warns of Thunderstorms and Heavy Downpour for Western Montana

When I was sharing the daily forecast with our listeners this morning, I looked ahead to see the forecast for this weekend's Griz home opener and saw an ideal weather day of partly cloudy and 72 degrees for game day. What I didn't realize is that the National Weather Service is forecasting some wild weather for Missoula and surrounding areas this Friday.

Their forecast calls for thunderstorms capable of producing both gusty winds and heavy rainfall, most likely Friday afternoon and evening, with Missoula being in the center of the area they’ve predicted for heavy rainfall. It looks like these storms could hit north of Kalispell down to south of Hamilton and west all the way across Idaho. Glad this weather didn’t arrive for Labor Day weekend travel!

Flash flooding could occur with stronger storms, particularly if they hit areas of Western Montana that usually flood, or land with recent burn scars. Heavy rain could also lead to standing water and debris on roads, so fallen branches and such. The NWS reports, “while most areas will see at least some precipitation, the heavier amounts (0.75” or more) may be more localized. Precipitation will likely become more widespread and steady across northwest Montana Friday night into Saturday morning.” I think we can all agree that we could use the rain.

The weather could affect the final PaddleHeads game of the regular season, with Fan Appreciation night planned for Friday, but Thirsty Thursday is lookin' dry.

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