141
FXUS65 KBYZ 271845
AFDBYZ
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
1245 PM MDT FRI MAR 27 2026
KEY MESSAGES
- TURNING WARMER AND DRIER INTO THE WEEKEND.
- POTENTIAL FOR BREEZY CONDITIONS OVER THE WESTERN FOOTHILLS
MONDAY.
- CONDITIONS TREND COOLER AND UNSETTLED NEXT WEEK. PERIODS OF
MODERATE SNOWFALL IN THE MOUNTAINS MONDAY INTO TUESDAY.
DISCUSSION
THROUGH THURSDAY...
THIS EVENING THROUGH OVERNIGHT, FROM CUSTER CO EAST, MODELS BRING
IN A LOW LEVEL JET. SURFACE GUSTS IN THIS AREA WILL GENERALLY BE
IN THE 20S TO 30S MPH OUT OF THE SOUTH, WITH A 20% CHANCE TO SEE
A GUST STRONGER THAN 40 MPH.
THROUGH THE WEEKEND, WARM AND DRY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE UNDER
AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE. HIGHS SATURDAY WILL BE IN THE 60S AND 70S,
DECREASING A FEW DEGREES FOR SUNDAY AS A MAINLY DRY BACKDOOR COLD
FRONT MOVES THROUGH AND TURNS WINDS OUT OF THE NORTHEAST.
MODELS HAVE COME INTO BETTER AGREEMENT FOR EARLY NEXT WEEK.
MONDAY WILL HAVE THE BEST CHANCE (40-60%) FOR GUSTS GREATER THAN
50 MPH OVER THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS AS MID LEVEL WINDS
INCREASE AHEAD OF LOWERING HEIGHTS TO THE WEST. A WEAK TROUGH,
AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT, MOVE THROUGH MONDAY INTO TUESDAY
MORNING, BRINGING COOLER TEMPERATURES, A 60-80% CHANCE OF PRECIP
OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS, A 30-60% CHANCE OVER WESTERN AND
CENTRAL PORTIONS OF THE CWA, AND A 10-30% CHANCE OVER THE EAST.
HIGHS MONDAY WILL BE IN THE MID 50S TO NEAR 70, DECREASING TO
UPPER 30S AND 40S TUESDAY. PRECIP WILL FALL AS SNOW OVER THE
MOUNTAINS AND WILL BEGIN AS A RAIN/SNOW MIX BEFORE BECOMING ALL
SNOW OVERNIGHT. CURRENTLY, THE BEST CHANCE OF ACCUMULATING SNOW
OVER LOWER ELEVATIONS IS FOR LOCATIONS WEST AND SOUTH OF BILLINGS,
WITH A 30-50% CHANCE OF AT LEAST 1 INCH OF SNOW. THE
ABSAROKA/BEARTOOTH MOUNTAINS ARE EXPECTED TO SEE THE MOST SNOW,
WITH A 50% CHANCE OF MORE THAN 12 INCHES OF SNOW ABOVE 8000 FT.
OVER THE BIGHORN MOUNTAINS, THERE IS A 60% CHANCE OF MORE THAN 6
INCHES.
AS THE TROUGH MOVES OUT TUESDAY, UPPER LEVEL FLOW REMAINS
SOUTHWESTERLY, ALLOWING FOR LOW TO MODERATE PRECIP CHANCES.
HEIGHTS WILL ALSO BUILD IN SLIGHTLY, ALLOWING WARMER TEMPS
WEDNESDAY, WITH HIGHS IN THE 50S AND 60S. ANOTHER TROUGH
APPROACHES FOR THE END OF THE WEEK, CONTINUING UNSETTLED
CONDITIONS. ARCHER
AVIATION
18Z DISCUSSION...
GENERALLY LIGHT WINDS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE REGION WITH ALL
SITES STAYING AT OR BELOW 15KTS. AFTER 01Z SOME LLWS IS POSSIBLE
FOR SITES ACROSS THE PLAINS. KBIL/KMLS HAVE THE HIGHEST CHANCE OF
SEEING OVER 30KTS OF LLWS WITHIN 2 KFT AGL AND THUS WAS INCLUDED
IN THE TAF. SITES LIKE KSHR/KBHK MAY STILL SEE WIND SHEER
OVERNIGHT TONIGHT, HOWEVER, IT MY NOT REACH THE CRITERIA REQUIRED
TO INCLUDE A MENTION IN THE TAFS. ALL SITES WILL REMAIN VFR. WMR
PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS
SAT SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 038/072 039/069 042/063 026/043 029/063 043/057 034/048
00/U 00/B 26/W 64/J 21/B 35/W 64/W
LVM 035/070 040/068 043/060 025/044 029/058 039/048 029/045
00/B 00/N 36/W 53/J 22/W 56/W 54/J
HDN 032/072 036/072 039/065 025/045 029/064 042/059 034/049
00/U 00/B 25/W 64/J 21/B 35/W 65/W
MLS 031/066 037/065 039/061 023/041 029/059 039/058 032/045
00/B 00/B 12/W 32/J 11/B 23/W 43/W
4BQ 035/069 037/068 042/069 026/041 030/060 041/063 034/046
00/U 00/U 01/B 33/J 11/B 23/W 54/W
BHK 030/065 034/063 037/062 020/039 023/055 035/060 032/046
00/B 00/B 11/B 22/J 11/N 23/W 53/W
SHR 031/070 035/070 039/070 024/042 026/062 039/061 030/046
00/U 00/B 03/W 75/J 22/W 25/W 76/W
BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
MT...NONE.
WY...NONE.
WEATHER.GOV/BILLINGS
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