There was frost this past Sunday morning on the Piegan Pass trail. It warmed up nicely later in the day.
Todd is correct. Bring layers.
I suggest bringing several light weight layers and a
good rain jacket.
I started on Sunday morning wearing 2 long sleeeve, lightweight T-shirts and one short sleeve T-shirt.
I ended wearing just the short sleeve T-shirt.
All synthetic wicking material.
DO NOT BRING COTTON CLOTHING
Unless you want to risk hypothermia when you get wet.
pocketlint
Here's the forecast I look at every day. Keep in mind that , no forecast is very accurate for the high country. Frontal movement is the best info in the forecasts. It looks like Wednesday a front is moving in and "wind" will be the weeks feature.
The smoke/haze from the fires was really bad in the Flathead yesterday(Monday).
For those familiar with the area. Yesterday, Monday, I couldn't see
any of the surrounding mountains from the airport.
"Wind" is NOT something anyone wants to see right now...unless it comes with an inch+ of rain and no lightening.
From
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... 14.337&e=0
000
FXUS65 KMSO 280907
AFDMSO
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Missoula MT
307 AM MDT Tue Aug 28 2012
.DISCUSSION...Today is going to be another hot, dry, and smokey
day. Southwest flow will continue to pull smoke from wildfires in
northern California, Oregon, and Idaho across central Idaho and
into western Montana. Despite the smoke, temperatures will remain
about 15 degrees above normal. Southwest Montana will have gusty
southwest winds today, which combined with low relative humidity will
promote wildfires.
On Wednesday, a cold front moves through the area. Locations north
of Interstate 90 have the best chance of receiving precipitation
with the front crossing Wednesday afternoon and evening,
especially Glacier National Park. For locations south of I-90, it
will be a dry, windy cold front.
The persistent feature throughout the remainder of this week will
continue to be wind. Expect breezy conditions almost every
afternoon from Thursday onward, particularly Friday and Saturday
afternoons. Higher terrain will see the stronger winds, but plenty
of atmospheric mixing will occur so that valley locations will
also see some gusty winds by later in the afternoon.
Concerning wildfire smoke: it looks like Friday there will be
continuous southerly flow, which will draw smoke from fires
south of the Montana/Idaho border into north/south oriented
valleys, such as the Bitterroot and Missoula valleys, as well as
the Mission valley. Due to this type of flow, Saturday could be
another smokey day for western Montana.
Otherwise, very little, if any, precipitation is expected through
at least early next week. Expect warm and dry conditions to
persist.
&&
.AVIATION...Southwest flow continues to pull smoke from wildfires
in California, Oregon, and Idaho into central Idaho and western
Montana. Terminals most affected by smoke will be KMSO and KSMN.
Expect gusty winds this afternoon with very unstable conditions
during peak heating, especially at KBTM and KMSO where gusts will
be around 20 knots from the southwest.
&&
.MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...RED FLAG WARNING from Noon today to Midnight MDT Wednesday Night
Butte/Blackfoot Region...Potomac/Seeley Lake Region.
RED FLAG WARNING from Noon today to Midnight MDT Wednesday Night
Bitterroot/Sapphire Mountains...Missoula/Bitterroot Valleys.
ID...FIRE WEATHER WATCH from Wednesday morning through Wednesday
evening Eastern Lemhi County.
FIRE WEATHER WATCH from late tonight through Wednesday afternoon
Western Lemhi County.
RED FLAG WARNING from 2 PM this afternoon to 8 PM PDT this
evening Southern Clearwater Mountains.
RED FLAG WARNING from 11 PM this evening to 11 PM PDT Wednesday
Southern Clearwater Mountains.
&&
$$