


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Great Falls, MT
Issued by NWS Great Falls, MT
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702 FXUS65 KTFX 152053 AFDTFX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Great Falls MT 253 PM MDT Tue Jul 15 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Precipitation will gradually decrease from northwest to southeast through the overnight hours tonight - Clearing skies and light winds where recent precipitation has fallen will set the stage for the potential of fog Wednesday morning. - Temperatures trend closer to normal toward the weekend, with a few showers and thunderstorms Thursday near the Hi-Line. - At least a low-end risk for showers and thunderstorms each afternoon and early evening Friday through Sunday. && .DISCUSSION... - Meteorological Overview: A compact, but potent, upper level shortwave will continue to dig southeast over the Northern Rockies and eventually Northern High Plains through Wednesday morning. At the surface a cold front has pushed through much of Southwest Montana before stalling just short of the Idaho/Montana border. Cool, with temperatures more closely resembling that of late September, conditions exist across all of North Central through Southwest Montana in wake of the aforementioned front; with the coolest conditions occurring over the plains of Central and North Central Montana where persistent, and mostly stratiform, precipitation has been falling for much of the day today. Further south near the Idaho border where late morning/afternoon clearing has occurred scattered (strong) thunderstorms were developing over Northeast Idaho, with these thunderstorms lifting northeast across Southwest Montana, generally along and southeast of a Monday to Bozeman Pass line. By this evening the precipitation shield over the plains of Central and North Central Montana will gradually begin to pivot to the southeast as the best forcing associated with the upper level shortwave shifts east of the Northern Rockies. Additional showers and thunderstorms lifting northeast across Southwest Montana will be possible through the evening hours, with the expectation that the threat for strong/severe thunderstorms will gradually wane through 03z this evening due to the loss of heating. As precipitation ends from northwest to southeast during the overnight hours some breaks in the cloud cover will occur, most notably along the Hi-Line. These breaks in the cloud cover and decreasing winds near sunrise on Wednesday will set the stage for fog development, especially along and just west of the western edge of the stratus cloud deck. - Moldan Temperatures during the day Wednesday begin to trend a touch warmer, but still look to be well below average. A zonal to slightly northwesterly flow aloft continues heading into Thursday, with a weak wave passing across northern areas in the afternoon. This should result in a few showers and thunderstorms near the Hi-Line. Thereafter guidance struggles with the specifics of the pattern Several waves within a zonal to slightly northwesterly flow aloft look to pass across the Northern Rockies Friday into early next week, but the timing of any individual wave is uncertain still. Temperatures look to trend closer to normal for this weekend, but there is growing confidence in another cooler spell for the middle of next week. -AM - Forecast Confidence & Scenarios: Late week into the middle of next week: Deterministic guidance does agree that there will be a zonal to slightly northwesterly flow aloft across the Northern Rockies Friday into the weekend. Although there is agreement in the general pattern setup, there is not a lot of agreement on the timing of any embedded waves traversing this flow. Each wave will be capable of producing scattered showers and thunderstorms. The when and where for each wave remains uncertain. Heading toward early next week, cluster guidance reveals better agreement on the evolution of the pattern, with around 90% of ensemble members favoring a period of troughing. This would result in another cooler period, with increased chances for rain. -AM && .AVIATION... 15/18Z TAF Period Rain, mist, and in some cases, haze, cause reduced visibility. These obscurations, as well as, low ceilings, cause some airfields to fall into the IFR/LIFR range. Mountain obscuration should be expected. A few thunderstorms are included in the forecast, although confidence is too low to include mention of thunderstorm within airfield ten mile aerodromes. Aside from thunderstorm activity, winds gust up to 35KT across much of north central, central and southwest, Montana. - Fogleman Refer to weather.gov/zlc for more detailed regional aviation weather and hazard information. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GTF 48 70 46 80 / 70 10 0 10 CTB 40 67 45 73 / 30 0 0 30 HLN 48 75 47 87 / 60 10 0 0 BZN 50 74 43 89 / 70 10 0 10 WYS 41 74 37 81 / 60 10 0 10 DLN 44 76 42 87 / 30 0 0 10 HVR 46 71 48 78 / 50 10 0 10 LWT 45 63 41 78 / 100 30 0 10 && .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ http://www.weather.gov/greatfalls