Helena, Montana Weather
Helena, Montana — live current conditions, hourly and 7-day forecasts, NWS alerts, radar and satellite imagery for Helena, Lewis and Clark County.
Full aviation weather for Helena is published on the Helena Regional Airport (KHLN) page, 4 km away. It carries the current METAR decoded into plain language — surface wind, visibility, cloud layers and ceiling, temperature and dewpoint, and altimeter setting — alongside the raw observation as transmitted. 2 airfields within reach of Helena have their own pages, listed below.
The Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) is shown across its full validity period, with each change group broken out so you can see when conditions are expected to shift. Flight category is derived automatically — VFR, MVFR, IFR or LIFR — from reported ceiling and visibility, with runway details and field elevation alongside. Observations update roughly hourly and forecasts several times a day.
Other airports near Helena: Townsend Airport (K8U8) 51 km
Conditions reported at KHLN describe the airfield itself. Weather 4 km away can differ, particularly in terrain or near the coast. For conditions at Helena specifically, see the current conditions and forecast above.
About Helena, Montana
Helena sits at the foot of the Continental Divide, a place where the sky feels vast and the mountains loom close enough to touch. It lies 47.1 miles north-north-east of Butte, MT (from Butte, MT: bearing 30°T), and is situated 5.7 miles west-south-west of Helena Valley Southeast. The landscape here is a study in contrasts: rugged peaks rise sharply from the valley floor, their flanks a mosaic of pine forests and scree slopes. Below, the Helena Valley unfolds, a broad expanse where ranches and fields give way to the urban sprawl, all under an immense Montana sky that shifts from brilliant blue to bruised purple with the changing light. The air, especially in the early morning, carries a crispness that hints at the high elevation, a clean, invigorating scent of pine needles and damp earth. This is a town forged in gold, its fortunes once tied to the rich veins discovered in the surrounding hills, a legacy still visible in the grand Victorian architecture that lines its historic streets. The echoes of prospectors and pioneers linger, a palpable sense of grit and ambition that shaped Helena. Today, that spirit finds expression in a diverse economy, a blend of state government, healthcare, and a burgeoning tech sector, all breathing life into the old mining town. The Missouri River, a vital artery for both history and the present day, flows not far from Helena, its presence a constant hum beneath the surface of daily life, a reminder of the enduring power of water in this arid land.
Live animated radar for Helena and surroundings — RainViewer.
NOAA GOES-16 GEOCOLOR — live animated loop updated every 10 minutes. Shows cloud cover, storm systems and weather patterns across the continental US.
Source: NOAA/NESDIS GOES-East · Public domain · Auto-updates on page reload
| Location | Helena, Lewis and Clark County, Montana |
| Coordinates | 46.592712°N, 112.036109°W |
| Timezone | Mountain Time (America/Denver) |
| ZIP Code(s) | 59601, 59602, 59604, 59620, 59623 |
| Area Code | 406 |
| Page generated | September 2026 |
| Weather data | Open-Meteo (open-source), NOAA National Weather Service |
About This Helena, Montana Weather Page
This page provides live weather conditions and forecasts for Helena, Montana, including current conditions, a 24-hour hourly forecast, 7-day outlook, NWS extended text forecast, precipitation radar and NOAA GOES-16 satellite imagery. Aviation weather — live METAR observations and TAF forecasts — is published separately on the pages for the nearest reporting airports, linked from the aviation section above. Additional sections may include tide predictions, wave height, wave direction and sea-surface temperature, a barometric pressure trend, and a solunar-based fishing forecast with a fishing-conditions rating for coastal localities, and soil temperature, crop weather and live USGS river gauge data for agricultural areas near a monitored waterway. All data updates automatically on every page visit.
Location data for Helena includes coordinates 46.592712°N, 112.036109°W, situated in Lewis and Clark County. ZIP code 59601, 59602, 59604, 59620, 59623. Telephone area code: 406. Timezone: Mountain Time (America/Denver).
Weather data is sourced from the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) and the open-source Open-Meteo API. River and stream data is sourced from the USGS National Water Information System. Tide predictions are sourced from NOAA CO-OPS; marine and solunar data are modeled from Open-Meteo and public sunrise/moon calculations and should be treated as a general guide alongside on-the-water conditions. Radar is provided by RainViewer. Satellite imagery is sourced from NOAA/NESDIS GOES-East and is public domain.
