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Weather alerts in Montana today: does anything affect me?
National Weather Service
Official High Wind Warning in effect for Montana.
Always follow your local National Weather Service office and local officials. Details below.
Official weather alerts for Montana
High Wind Warning until Sun, Oct 18, 12:00 AM MDT
High Wind Warning issued October 16 at 6:06PM MDT until October 18 at 12:00AM MDT by NWS Great Falls MT
East Glacier Park Region; Northern High Plains; Eastern Glacier, Western Toole, and Central Pondera; Southern Rocky Mountain Front; Southern High Plains
Full text from the National Weather Service
HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM SATURDAY TO MIDNIGHT MDT SATURDAY NIGHT
* WHAT...Westerly winds 30 to 50 mph with gusts up to 85 mph possible. * WHERE...East Glacier Park Region Zone, and Eastern Glacier, Western Toole, and Central Pondera, Northern High Plains, Southern High Plains, and Southern Rocky Mountain Front. * WHEN...From 9 AM Saturday to midnight MDT Saturday Night. * IMPACTS...Travel will be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Isolated instances of tree damage and or power outages are possible. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The strong winds will also bring difficult conditions for outdoor recreation in portions of Glacier National Park, particularly over and near higher terrain on the eastern side of the Park.
Instructions: People are urged to secure loose objects that could be blown around or damaged by the wind.
Official NWS page · NWS Great Falls MT
High Wind Warning until Sun, Oct 18, 12:00 AM MDT
High Wind Warning issued October 16 at 6:06PM MDT until October 18 at 12:00AM MDT by NWS Great Falls MT
Eastern Toole and Liberty
Full text from the National Weather Service
HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM SATURDAY TO MIDNIGHT MDT SATURDAY NIGHT
* WHAT...West winds 35 to 45 mph with gusts up to 60 mph expected. * WHERE...Eastern Toole and Liberty. * WHEN...From 9 AM Saturday to midnight MDT Saturday Night. * IMPACTS...Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines. Isolated power outages are expected. Travel will be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles.
Instructions: People are urged to secure loose objects that could be blown around or damaged by the wind.
Official NWS page · NWS Great Falls MT
1 advisory or statement
Lake Wind Advisory until Sat, Oct 17, 7:00 PM MDT
Lake Wind Advisory issued October 16 at 10:37AM MDT until October 17 at 7:00PM MDT by NWS Missoula MT
Flathead/Mission Valleys
Full text from the National Weather Service
LAKE WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM TO 7 PM MDT SATURDAY
* WHAT...Southwest winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph expected. * WHERE...Flathead/Mission Valleys. * WHEN...From 2 PM to 7 PM MDT Saturday. * IMPACTS...Strong winds and rough waves on area lakes will create hazardous conditions for small craft.
Instructions: Boaters on area lakes should use extra caution since strong winds and rough waves can overturn small craft.
Official NWS page · NWS Missoula MT
Storm Prediction Center · today's severe-storm outlook · issued 1 h ago
None of these cities are inside today's thunderstorm or severe-storm areas.
Official SPC Day 1 Convective Outlook (NOAA), valid until Sat, Oct 17, 6:00 AM MDT. It shows the chance of severe storms in the area, not a warning for your street. SPC outlook
U.S. Drought Monitor · map of October 13
21% of Montana is in drought, including 4.9% in extreme or exceptional drought.
Share of the state's area. Updated every Thursday by the U.S. Drought Monitor (National Drought Mitigation Center, USDA and NOAA). Drought builds over weeks and months: one rainy day rarely ends it.
Weather in Montana now
What is normal in October in Montana
changing season Dry, windy days keep wildfire risk high, and the first snowstorms arrive in the mountains.
El Niño is under way, and NOAA expects it to be strong (NOAA, October 8, 2026).
In New Mexico and the southern Rockies it tends to bring more winter snow; the northern Rockies tend to be warmer and drier.
These are general tendencies: every year is different, and your local forecast comes first.
Typical climate per NOAA and regional weather services. It describes the season, not the forecast for a given day.
Where will it rain most? Forecast by city
Total rain each day, in inches. Wettest cities first.
| City | Tomorrow | Sunday | Monday |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billings | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Missoula | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Great Falls | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Helena | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bozeman | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Automatic forecast from a computer model (MET Norway, data CC BY 4.0). Not an official alert: for watches and warnings, follow National Weather Service.
What do the inches mean?
As a rough guide: under a quarter inch in a day is light rain; 1 to 2 inches is a heavy downpour; more than 2 inches in a day is very heavy rain that can flood low-lying areas and roads.
Several rainy days in a row saturate the ground: even a modest storm can then cause flash flooding and rising rivers.
Cities in Montana
Official sources for Montana
Emergency: 911