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MISSOULA- We've got a couple more days of the hot, sunny weather here in Western Montana, but finally there is some relief on the horizon! By the weekend, we're looking at a bit of a cool down and some rain across the region.

The heat is building back in today with highs warming into the 90s and even the folks in Plains looking at possible triple digits for the third time this week! The only folks not seeing the 90s will be around the lake where that nice breeze will keep highs in the upper 80s.

Our strong ridge of high pressure over the Northern Rockies is still maintaining control today with mostly sunny skies expected across the area. We will see a few of those cumulus clouds develop this afternoon as well as isolated, dry thunderstorms for southwest Montana.

Morning inversions and the high pressure aren't doing any favors for the smoke and haze that are lingering over the Bitterroot Valley and even inching into parts of the Missoula Valley. Unfortunately those hazy conditions will stick around with us today and Friday.

By Friday we'll start to see our high pressure shift into the Plains and begin to break down. This will increase our cloud cover during the day tomorrow as well as give us a bit more of a chance for scattered thunderstorms during the afternoon hours.

Saturday is when the relief comes. We'll see highs in the 80s for Saturday and Sunday with a round of scattered showers and storms expected both days. We could see a fourth to half an inch of rain this weekend helping to ease up on the dry conditions. We will however see thunder and lightning during this time creating a double edge sword for wildfire conditions.

The early part of next week still stays a bit unsettled with partly cloudy skies and the chance for afternoon thunderstorms to develop. We'll continue to see temperature lingering in the mid 80s to low 90s during the afternoon and low in the 50s.

Contact Chrissy Kohler