Marine Weather and Tide Forecast for Woods Bay, MT

FXUS65 KMSO 030713 AFDMSO

Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Missoula MT 113 AM MDT Mon Aug 3 2026

DISCUSSION

KEY MESSAGES:

- Smoke continues to affect the region.

- There is a chance for showers today in Northwest Montana mainly east of Highway 93 and along the Continental Divide.

- Today starts a warming trend with a dry air mass in place.

High resolution models show the smoke spreading across more of western Montana and central Idaho early this morning. Kalispell should see some relief due to a shift to northerly winds overnight pushing much of the smoke further south. However, wildland fires upstream in Washington and some local fires will keep producing smoke even there.

A shortwave moving across northwest Montana this morning has a 20% chance of causing some light showers in Kalispell, and those chances increase east of Highway 93 and peak at 60% along the Continental Divide. Other than that, the air mass over the region remains dry.

Rising heights will cause warming temperatures today, even though the flow aloft remains cyclonic. By tomorrow, the flow will start to turn anticyclonic, and the warming trend will continue with more stable conditions. Unfortunately this means locally produced smoke will be less likely to ventilate out as the week goes on.
Also, with the dry air mass over the region, that means the humidity will stay very low this week, exasperating the dryness helping to fuel wildland fire. Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be anymore lightning on the way this week. Basically, the region has a warm, dry, smoky week ahead.
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