What You Need to Know About Montana’s Summer 2024 Forecast

Montana is getting it's first real taste of summer this week. The temperatures are rising, not just in Montana, but all across the west. Some places in the west are forecasting triple digits this early in the season with a "Heat Dome" that is in our forecast. The official start of summer happens on Thursday June 20th, at 2:51pm MDT, which will be earliest summer start in 128 years, according to the Farmer's Almanac. The temps in Montana may not be hitting triple digits yet, but we will be seeing some hotter temperatures this week and into the weekend.

Read More: You Wanted Montana Summer, Here Comes Those Temperatures 

The forecast for the rest of the summer in Montana, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac, is for hotter than normal temperatures across most of the state. The forecast also calls for moisture in the western part of the state this summer. That would help with our fire season, but that would only help a small portion of the state. The Old Farmer's Almanac has been around since 1792 and splits Montana into two different regions, with the west being in one region and central and eastern Montana being in the other.

The Farmer's Almanac Forecast

The Farmer's Almanac, which has been around since 1818, calls for a bit of different forecast for our region. The Farmer's Almanac doesn't split Montana into two different regions, it includes us in their "North Central" range. They are forecasting hot and dry for the beginning part of June, then we may see some storms and showers for the end of June. Specifically:

• June 24th-27th cooler in the Northern Great Plains and the Rockies.
• June 28th-30th very warm and humid, thunderstorms from the Northern Plains spreading eastward.

Both almanacs are forecasting moisture and storms during the summer this year for Montana. That, of course, would help if we get fires this summer in Montana, but it remains to be seen how accurate these forecasts will be for our upcoming summer.