high winds

Missoula and all of western Montana endured a long night of high winds, downed trees and power outages, said meteorologist Travis Booth with the National Weather Service office in Missoula early Tuesday morning.

The beginning of the Labor Day weekend will be idyllic in western Montana, with blue sky and warm sunshine, but from Sunday night into Monday, the National Weather Service is warning of a drastic and possibly dangerous change in the weather.

The National Weather Service predicted that strong winds would pummel the Beeskove Fire burning in the Rattlesnake Recreation Area on Saturday, and those predictions were so accurate that crews were pulled off the fire for their own safety late Saturday afternoon.

If you have ever wondered what hurricane force winds and water combined must look like check out this slideshow from CNN.