MISSOULA - West-central and Southwest Montana stay dry today with sunshine and highs in the 80s.
Northwest Montana on the other hand will have a chance to see an isolated thunderstorm or two develop in the afternoon and evening.
Smoke has moved back into parts of Montana and will continue into the weekend.
Forecast models show smoke gradually shifting further to the east, but skies will certainly appear hazy areawide.
Temperatures heat up this weekend with highs in the upper 80s to low 90s Saturday and low to upper 90s Sunday.
The ridge will start to break down by Monday of next week, this will bring cooler and breezy winds to Western Montana.
The highs will be back in the 80s Monday - Wednesday.
Models are in good agreement that another and potentially stronger ridge sets up by Thursday of next week and sticks around into the following week.
Right now, prepare for and extended stretch of temperatures in the low to upper 90s starting Friday and continuing through the following week, July 28.
