653
FNUS75 KTFX 302150
FWSTFX

Spot Forecast for Queen Gulch...Helena Interagency Dispatch
National Weather Service Great Falls MT
350 PM MDT Thu Jul 30 2026

Forecast is based on forecast start time of 1600 MDT on July 30.
If conditions become unrepresentative...contact the National Weather
Service.

...FIRE WEATHER WATCH IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH
SUNDAY EVENING...

.DISCUSSION...

The main concern this evening is a mix of dry and wet showers and
thunderstorms moving over the fire between 1600 and 2400. Though,
best chances for storms look to be between 1900-2300. The main
hazard with storms will be gusty, erratic winds. Dry conditions
settle in Friday through the weekend, with very warm conditions
Friday and Saturday. Overnight humidities will be poorer through
the weekend. A ridge breakdown Saturday and Sunday will bring
windy, very warm, and dry condtions leading to elevated to
critical fire weather.

.REST OF TODAY...

Sky/weather.........Mostly sunny (40-50 percent). Patchy smoke.
                    Slight chance of showers and thunderstorms.
CWR.................5 percent.
Chance of thunder...20 percent.
Max temperature.....73-78.
Min humidity........18-23 percent.
Wind (20 ft)........
 Slope/valley.......West winds around 5 mph shifting to the north
                    late in the afternoon. Gusty and erratic winds
                    expected near thunderstorms.
 Ridgetop...........Northwest around 5 mph.
Mixing height.......11000 ft AGL.
Transport winds.....West 10 to 15 mph.

TIME (MDT)      4PM 5PM
Sky (%).........45  45
Weather cov.....SCH SCH
Weather type....RW  RW
Tstm cov........SCH SCH
CWR.............10  10
Chc of thdr (%).20  20
Temp............75  73
RH..............24  27
20 FT wind dir..W   N
20 FT wind spd..5   5
20 FT wind gust.15  15
Ridge wind dir..NW  NW
Ridge wind spd..5   5
Mix hgt (kft)...11  10
Transp wind dir.W   W
Transp wind spd.15  10

.TONIGHT...

Sky/weather.........Mostly cloudy (65-75 percent) then becoming
                    partly cloudy (30-40 percent). Chance of rain
                    showers and slight chance of thunderstorms in
                    the evening. Patchy smoke through the night.
CWR.................5 percent.
Chance of thunder...20 percent.
Min temperature.....55-60.
Max humidity........36-41 percent.
Wind (20 ft)........
 Slope/valley.......Northerly winds around 5 mph becoming 10 mph
                    late in the evening, shifting to the southwest.
                    early in the morning. Gusty and erratic winds
                    expected near thunderstorms in the evening.
 Ridgetop...........Light and variable around 5 mph.
Mixing height.......500 ft AGL.
Transport winds.....West around 10 mph shifting to the north
                    in the late evening and overnight shifting to
                    the west after 3 am.

TIME (MDT)      6PM 7PM 8PM 9PM 10P 11P MID 1AM 2AM 3AM 4AM 5AM
Sky (%).........56  63  55  72  84  77  74  48  35  26  35  29
Weather cov.....SCH SCH CHC CHC SCH SCH PTY PTY PTY PTY PTY PTY
Weather type....RW  RW  RW  RW  RW  RW  SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK
Tstm cov........SCH SCH SCH
CWR.............10  10  10  10  10  10  0   0   0   0   0   0
Chc of thdr (%).20  20  20  10  10  10  0   0   0   0   0   0
Temp............73  71  67  65  63  63  62  62  61  59  59  59
RH..............29  34  40  44  46  45  46  43  44  46  48  48
20 FT wind dir..NE  E   N   NW  N   N   NE  NW  W   SW  W   W
20 FT wind spd..5   5   10  10  10  10  10  10  10  10  10  5
20 FT wind gust.15  15  15  15  15  15  15  15  15          10
Ridge wind dir..N   NW  SW  S   SE  E   NE  N   N   NW  NW  W
Ridge wind spd..5   5   5   5   5   5   5   5   5   5   5   5
Mix hgt (kft)...8.5 6.0 2.0 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5
Transp wind dir.W   E   NE  NW  W   N   N   N   W   W   SW  W
Transp wind spd.10  10  10  10  10  10  10  10  10  10  10  5

.FRIDAY...

Sky/weather.........Sunny (15-25 percent). Patchy smoke.
CWR.................0 percent.
Chance of thunder...Less than 5 percent.
Max temperature.....75-80.
Min humidity........19-24 percent.
Wind (20 ft)........
 Slope/valley.......Southwest winds around 5 mph shifting to the
                    northeast late in the afternoon.
 Ridgetop...........West around 5 mph shifting to the southeast
                    late in the afternoon.
Mixing height.......9500 ft AGL.
Transport winds.....West 5 to 10 mph.

TIME (MDT)      6AM 7AM 8AM 9AM 10A 11A 12P 1PM 2PM 3PM 4PM 5PM
Sky (%).........23  34  19  8   5   13  4   5   3   9   4   5
Weather cov.....PTY PTY PTY PTY PTY PTY PTY PTY PTY PTY PTY PTY
Weather type....SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK
Tstm cov........
CWR.............0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0
Chc of thdr (%).0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0
Temp............57  59  61  63  66  69  71  74  75  76  77  76
RH..............46  44  43  41  37  34  31  30  27  26  24  26
20 FT wind dir..W   W   W   W   SW  SW  SW  SW  SW  SW  NE  NE
20 FT wind spd..5   5   5   5   5   5   5   5   5   5   5   5
20 FT wind gust.10  10  10      10  10  10  15  15  15  15  15
Ridge wind dir..W   W   W   W   W   SW  SW  SW  SW  W   SW  SE
Ridge wind spd..5   5   5   5   5   5   5   5   5   5   5   0
Mix hgt (kft)...0.5 0.5 0.5 1.5 3.0 5.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 9.5 9.5 9.0
Transp wind dir.NW  NW  NW  W   W   W   W   W   W   W   W   W
Transp wind spd.5   5   5   5   5   5   5   10  10  10  10  10

$$
Forecaster...Wilson
Requested by...RCH
Type of request...WILDFIRE
.TAG 2618694.0/TFX
.DELDT 07/30/26
.FormatterVersion 2.0.0
.EMAIL mthdc@firenet.gov, tfx.ops@noaa.gov