235  
FNUS75 KTFX 231155  
FWSTFX  
 
SPOT FORECAST FOR ELK SMITH UNIT 13 RX...USDA  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT  
555 AM MDT FRI OCT 23 2026  
 
FORECAST IS BASED ON IGNITION TIME OF 0700 MDT ON OCTOBER 23.  
IF CONDITIONS BECOME UNREPRESENTATIVE...CONTACT THE NATIONAL WEATHER  
SERVICE.  
   
DISCUSSION  
 
RAIN DEVELOPS THIS MORNING, WHICH SHOULD CHANGE TO SNOW DURING THE  
AFTERNOON. PRECIPITATION COULD BE HEAVY AT TIMES. 0.50 TO ABOUT  
0.75 LIQUID IS POSSIBLE BY THIS EVENING. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WOULD  
BE ABOUT 1 TO 3 INCHES. GENERALLY DRY CONDITIONS SAT THRU MON,  
WITH THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM TO ARRIVE ON TUE. TEMPERATURES WILL BE  
MUCH COOLER THAN THEY HAVE BEEN.  
 
   
REST OF TODAY  
 
SKY/WEATHER.........CLOUDY (90-100 PERCENT). RAIN THROUGH THE DAY.  
SNOW IN THE AFTERNOON.  
CWR.................NEAR 100 PERCENT.  
CHANCE OF THUNDER...10 PERCENT.  
MAX TEMPERATURE.....NEAR 50.  
MIN HUMIDITY........GENERALLY ABOVE 70 PERCENT.  
WIND (20 FT)........  
SLOPE/VALLEY.......WEST WINDS AROUND 5 MPH SHIFTING TO THE NORTH  
IN THE LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON.  
MIXING HEIGHT.......2000 FT AGL.  
TRANSPORT WINDS.....WEST 10 TO 15 MPH SHIFTING TO THE NORTH 15 TO  
20 MPH IN THE LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON.  
 
TIME (MDT) 7AM 8AM 9AM 10A 11A 12P 1PM 2PM 3PM 4PM 5PM  
SKY (%).........94 92 90 94 90 99 95 90 92 92 94  
WEATHER COV.....LKY LKY DEF DEF DEF DEF DEF DEF LKY LKY CHC  
WEATHER TYPE....RN RN RN RN RN RN SN RS RS SN SN  
TSTM COV........  
CWR.............90 90 90 90 90 100 100 100 100 100 100  
CHC OF THDR (%).10 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
TEMP............50 44 42 39 37 35 34 33 33 33 32  
RH..............83 83 83 89 88 92 94 94 92 84 84  
20 FT WIND DIR..SW W NW N N N N N N N N  
20 FT WIND SPD..5 5 5 10 10 10 10 10 10 5 5  
20 FT WIND GUST.10 10 15 20 20 20 20 20 15 15 15  
MIX HGT (KFT)...0.5 0.5 0.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 2.0 1.5 1.5 1.5  
TRANSP WIND DIR.W W NW NW N N N N N N N  
TRANSP WIND SPD.15 10 10 15 15 15 20 15 20 15 15  
   
TONIGHT  
 
SKY/WEATHER.........MOSTLY CLOUDY (70-80 PERCENT) THEN BECOMING  
PARTLY CLOUDY (30-40 PERCENT). CHANCE OF SNOW  
EARLY IN THE EVENING.  
CWR.................5 PERCENT.  
CHANCE OF THUNDER...0 PERCENT.  
MIN TEMPERATURE.....22-27.  
MAX HUMIDITY........ABOVE 90 PERCENT.  
WIND (20 FT)........  
SLOPE/VALLEY.......NORTH WINDS AROUND 5 MPH EARLY IN THE EVENING  
BECOMING LIGHT.  
MIXING HEIGHT.......500 FT AGL.  
TRANSPORT WINDS.....NORTH 10 TO 15 MPH DECREASING TO AROUND 5 MPH  
LATE IN THE EVENING, THEN SHIFTING TO THE  
NORTHWEST LATE IN THE EVENING SHIFTING TO THE  
SOUTH OVERNIGHT SHIFTING TO THE SOUTHWEST.  
 
TIME (MDT) 6PM 7PM 8PM 9PM 10P 11P MID 1AM 2AM 3AM 4AM 5AM  
SKY (%).........95 85 79 67 65 63 57 59 47 39 37 25  
WEATHER COV.....CHC  
WEATHER TYPE....SN  
TSTM COV........  
CWR.............10 10 10 10 10 10 0 0 0 0 0 0  
CHC OF THDR (%).0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
TEMP............32 31 31 30 30 27 28 25 26 27 27 26  
RH..............84 84 84 84 84 84 83 86 89 92 92 90  
20 FT WIND DIR..N N N N NW W SW S S S S SW  
20 FT WIND SPD..5 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
20 FT WIND GUST.15 10 10 10 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5  
MIX HGT (KFT)...1.5 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.5 1.0 1.0 0.5 1.0 0.5 0.5 0.5  
TRANSP WIND DIR.N N N N W NW S SE S SW SW S  
TRANSP WIND SPD.15 10 10 5 10 5 5 10 10 10 10 10  
 
 
FORECASTER...BRUSDA  
REQUESTED BY...BRAD PASKEY  
TYPE OF REQUEST...PRESCRIBED  
.TAG 2624256.0/TFX  
.DELDT 10/23/26  
.FORMATTERVERSION 2.0.0  
.EMAIL BRAD.PASKEY@USDA.GOV  
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