248
FXUS65 KBYZ 290225
AFDBYZ
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
725 PM MST SUN DEC 28 2025
KEY MESSAGES
- COLD TONIGHT WITH WIND CHILLS IN THE SINGLE DIGITS ABOVE AND
BELOW ZERO MOST PLACES, WITH TEENS BELOW ZERO IN FAR EASTERN
MONTANA.
- GENERALLY QUIET WEATHER WEEK AHEAD WITH ABOVE NORMAL
TEMPERATURES AND MOSTLY DRY CONDITIONS. MAIN THING TO WATCH IS
OCCASIONAL GUSTY WINDS, STRONGEST OVER THE WESTERN FOOTHILLS.
UPDATE
TEMPERATURES ARE DROPPING FOR AREAS EAST OF THE FOOTHILLS THIS
EVENING, AS A 1040MB HIGH SLIDES OVER EASTERN MT WITH MOSTLY CLEAR
SKIES. TEMPERATURES WERE ALREADY APPROACHING FORECAST LOW
TEMPERATURES FOR SOME PLACES, SO HAVE DROPPED TEMPERATURES A BIT
FOR EASTERN AREAS, AND RIVER VALLEYS THROUGH CENTRAL ZONES. LOWS
WILL RANGE FROM THE TEENS TO AROUND 20 DEGREES OVER THE WEST, TO
THE SINGLE DIGITS BELOW ZERO OUT EAST, THOUGH FAVORED LOCATIONS
COULD DROP INTO THE TEENS BELOW ZERO. WITH COLD AIR IN PLACE WEST
OF THE DIVIDE (CURRENTLY 11 DEGREES IN BOZEMAN) AND LEE SIDE
TROUGHING OVER THE WEST, SOUTHWEST TO WEST WINDS HAVE BEEN GUSTY
AND PERSISTENT ALONG THE WESTERN FOOTHILLS THIS EVENING, WITH
GUSTS OF 35-50 MPH OBSERVED. HAVE INCREASED WINDS THROUGH MONDAY,
AS WINDS SHOULD CONTINUE TO OUTPERFORM MODEL GUIDANCE.
PROBABILITIES FOR WINDS EXCEEDING 50 MPH ARE AROUND 50%, WHILE 60
MPH DROPS TO AROUND 20% THROUGH MONDAY. WIND HIGHLITES ARE NOT
ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. STP
DISCUSSION
TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY...
WITH TEMPERATURES THIS AFTERNOON IN THE TEENS AND 20S OVER SOUTH-
CENTRAL MONTANA AND NORTHERN WYOMING, AND SINGLE DIGITS ABOVE
ZERO IN FAR EASTERN MONTANA, TODAY WILL BE THE COLDEST DAY FOR
AWHILE. WITH THESE COLD TEMPERATURES, BREEZY NORTHWESTERLY WINDS
WITH GUSTS OF 20 TO 35 MPH CONTINUE TO PRODUCE WIND CHILLS IN THE
TEENS TO 20S BELOW ZERO OVER PORTIONS OF FAR EASTERN MONTANA. AS
THE WINDS GRADUALLY DECREASE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING, THESE
VERY COLD WIND CHILLS WILL MODERATE INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS TO
TEENS BELOW ZERO FOR TONIGHT. BECAUSE OF THIS SLIGHT MODERATION IN
WIND CHILLS, THE COLD WEATHER ADVISORY FOR CARTER, FALLON,
CUSTER, AND NORTHERN ROSEBUD COUNTIES HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO EXPIRE.
MONDAY WILL BE A WARMER DAY WITH HIGHS IN THE 30S AND 40S, COLDEST
IN FAR EASTERN MONTANA.
AS THE COLD AIR EXITS TO THE EAST TODAY INTO MONDAY, WINDS ARE
EXPECTED TO INCREASE OVER SOUTH-CENTRAL MONTANA. AROUND BIG TIMBER
TO HARLOWTON, WINDY CONDITIONS ARE ALREADY ONGOING DUE TO THE
EXITING COLD AIR WITH GUSTS IN THE 30S TO 50 MPH COMMON, STRONGEST
AROUND BIG TIMBER. LOOK FOR THESE GUSTY WINDS TO CONTINUE INTO
MONDAY. FROM THE BIGHORN BASIN IN WYOMING UP TOWARDS BILLINGS,
BREEZY SOUTH TO SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS WITH GUSTS IN THE 20S AND 30S
(MPH) LOOK TO PICK UP LATE THIS EVENING INTO MONDAY AS WELL. WITH
THIS, THERE IS A SMALL CHANCE OF BLOWING SNOW WHERE 1 OR MORE
INCHES OF SNOW FELL YESTERDAY. WHILE THIS COULD POTENTIALLY IMPACT
PORTIONS OF HIGHWAY 212 AND 310 IN SOUTHERN MONTANA, IMPACTS LOOK
TO REMAIN MINIMAL. ONCE TEMPERATURES WARM ABOVE FREEZING ON
MONDAY, THE THREAT WILL BE OVER.
THE WEATHER FOR THE REST OF THIS WEEK LOOKS TO REMAIN MOSTLY
QUIET AS A RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. BECAUSE
THE AXIS OF THIS RIDGE WILL BE TO THE WEST, OUR FORECAST AREA WILL
GENERALLY SIT IN BETWEEN THE RIDGE TO THE WEST AND TOUGH TO OUR
EAST. WITH THIS, A FEW IMPULSES DROPPING INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS
MAY BRING SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES TO EASTERN MONTANA AT
TIMES, BUT OVERALL TEMPERATURES LOOK TO BE ABOVE NORMAL INTO NEXT
WEEKEND. WHILE VERY LOW, THERE IS ALSO THE CHANCE OF LIGHT
PRECIPITATION (SPRINKLES/FLURRIES) OVER EASTERN AREAS WITH EACH
PASSING IMPULSE, BUT THE MORE LIKELY SOLUTION IS JUST PASSING
CLOUDS. OVER THE WESTERN FOOTHILLS, THE WARMER TEMPERATURES WILL
BRING PERIODS OF WIND WITH GUSTS IN THE 25 TO 45 MPH RANGE AT
TIMES, STRONGEST AROUND BIG TIMBER AND HARLOWTON. AROUND
LIVINGSTON, PERIODS OF GUSTY WINDS ARE POSSIBLE AS WELL, BUT MID-
LEVEL WINDS BEING MOSTLY OUT OF THE NORTHWEST SHOULD LIMIT THE GAP
WIND THREAT UNTIL MAYBE LATE THIS WEEK INTO THIS WEEKEND. OUR
NEXT BEST CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION FOR MOST MAY COME NEXT WEEKEND
AS ANOTHER PUSH OF PACIFIC MOISTURE LOOKS TO MOVE IN. ARENDS
AVIATION
VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH PASSING HIGH
CLOUDS. SOUTHWEST TO WEST WINDS OF 30-45KTS WILL CONTINUE INTO
MONDAY OVER THE WESTERN FOOTHILLS, INCLUDING KLVM, K6S0 AND K3HT.
SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 15-30KTS WILL SPREAD OUT INTO CENTRAL AREAS
LATE TONIGHT AND MONDAY, INCLUDING KBIL. STP
PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS
MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 015/039 028/045 032/050 030/047 033/050 032/048 028/048
00/U 00/B 00/U 00/B 00/B 11/B 11/B
LVM 015/041 027/046 030/052 031/049 033/049 034/049 032/048
00/N 00/B 00/U 00/B 01/E 12/O 22/O
HDN 000/039 022/045 025/047 023/044 027/048 027/046 024/045
00/U 00/B 00/U 00/B 01/B 11/B 22/O
MLS 902/034 021/040 023/037 017/036 022/041 022/038 021/041
00/U 00/B 00/U 00/B 00/B 10/B 11/B
4BQ 901/038 023/043 026/047 024/044 027/045 027/043 024/045
00/U 00/B 00/U 00/B 00/B 11/B 11/B
BHK 905/032 017/039 020/033 015/033 017/038 019/037 016/038
00/U 00/B 00/U 00/B 00/B 11/B 11/B
SHR 000/040 020/045 024/050 026/049 027/049 025/046 024/047
00/U 00/B 00/U 00/B 00/B 11/B 11/B
BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
MT...NONE.
WY...NONE.
WEATHER.GOV/BILLINGS
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