Spot Forecast
Issued by NWS Great Falls, MT
Issued by NWS Great Falls, MT
302
FNUS75 KTFX 181317
FWSTFX
Spot Forecast for Valentine...Wildland Fire Service
National Weather Service Great Falls MT
717 AM MDT Sat Jul 18 2026
Forecast is based on forecast start time of 0700 MDT on July 18.
If conditions become unrepresentative...contact the National Weather
Service.
.DISCUSSION...
Another round of showers and thunderstorms is possible across the
incident area from the late afternoon through evening hours
tonight, but shower and thunderstorm coverage will isolated in
nature. Primary hazard with any precipitation will be gusty and
erratic outflow winds. High temperatures through the weekend will
be hot and in the mid-90s, with low afternoon relative humidity
and only moderate recovery during the overnight hours. Overall dry
conditions are expected on Sunday, but an isolated shower or storm
over the Snowy and Little Rockies could produce outflow winds that
would lead to erratic wind directions across the incident area
during the afternoon hours.
.REST OF TODAY...
Sky/weather.........Partly sunny (50-60 percent) then becoming
sunny (15-25 percent). Slight chance of showers
early in the morning. Slight chance of showers
and thunderstorms late in the afternoon.
CWR.................5 percent.
Chance of thunder...18 percent.
Max temperature.....91-96.
Min humidity........24-29 percent.
Wind (20 ft)........
Slope/valley.......South winds around 5 mph shifting to the
northwest late in the afternoon. Gusty and
erratic winds expected near thunderstorms late
in the afternoon.
Ridgetop...........South around 10 mph shifting to the west late
in the morning.
Mixing height.......7500 ft AGL.
Transport winds.....South 5 to 10 mph shifting to the northwest
late in the afternoon.
TIME (MDT) 7AM 8AM 9AM 10A 11A 12P 1PM 2PM 3PM 4PM 5PM
Sky (%).........62 47 17 14 9 5 20 27 29 32 38
Weather cov.....SCH SCH SCH
Weather type....RW RW RW
Tstm cov........ SCH
CWR.............10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
Chc of thdr (%).0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 10 20
Temp............70 72 75 80 83 85 88 91 91 92 93
RH..............67 63 58 52 49 46 41 38 36 33 30
20 FT wind dir..SE S S S S S SW W W NW NW
20 FT wind spd..5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
20 FT wind gust.10 10 10 10 10 10 10 15 15 15 15
Ridge wind dir..S S S S SW W W W W W W
Ridge wind spd..10 10 10 10 5 5 5 10 10 10 10
Mix hgt (kft)...0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 3.0 4.5 5.5 6.5 7.0 7.5 7.5
Transp wind dir.S S S S S S S SW W NW NW
Transp wind spd.5 10 10 10 10 5 5 5 5 5 10
.TONIGHT...
Sky/weather.........Partly cloudy (40-50 percent) then becoming
mostly cloudy (50-60 percent). Slight chance of
showers and thunderstorms in the evening, then
chance of showers and thunderstorms overnight.
CWR.................5 percent increasing to 20 percent overnight.
Chance of thunder...25 percent.
Min temperature.....67-72.
Max humidity........51-56 percent.
Wind (20 ft)........
Slope/valley.......North winds around 5 mph shifting to the
southeast late in the evening, then shifting to
the southwest overnight. Gusty and erratic
winds expected near thunderstorms.
Ridgetop...........West 10 to 15 mph shifting to the southwest 15
to 20 mph in the late evening and overnight.
Mixing height.......500 ft AGL.
Transport winds.....Variable winds around 10 mph through the evening
shifting to the northwest after 3 am.
TIME (MDT) 6PM 7PM 8PM 9PM 10P 11P MID 1AM 2AM 3AM 4AM 5AM
Sky (%).........43 43 43 43 43 43 55 55 55 55 55 55
Weather cov.....SCH SCH SCH SCH SCH SCH CHC CHC CHC CHC CHC CHC
Weather type....RW RW RW RW RW RW RW RW RW RW RW RW
Tstm cov........SCH SCH SCH SCH SCH SCH CHC CHC CHC CHC CHC CHC
CWR.............10 10 10 10 10 10 20 20 20 20 20 20
Chc of thdr (%).20 20 20 20 20 20 30 30 30 30 30 30
Temp............92 91 89 84 81 79 77 76 75 73 71 70
RH..............29 30 35 40 44 49 53 52 52 53 55 56
20 FT wind dir..N N N SE SE SE SW SW SW SW SW SW
20 FT wind spd..5 5 5 5 5 5 10 10 10 10 10 10
20 FT wind gust.10 10 10 10 10 10 15 15 15
Ridge wind dir..NW W W W SW SW SW SW SW SW SW SW
Ridge wind spd..10 10 15 15 15 15 15 15 20 20 20 15
Mix hgt (kft)...8.0 7.0 3.0 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5
Transp wind dir.NW W SE SE S S S SW W W NW NW
Transp wind spd.10 10 5 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
.SUNDAY...
Sky/weather.........Sunny (15-25 percent).
CWR.................5 percent.
Chance of thunder...5 percent.
Max temperature.....92-97.
Min humidity........13-18 percent.
Wind (20 ft)........
Slope/valley.......Northwest winds around 10 mph.
Ridgetop...........West 15 to 20 mph.
Mixing height.......8000 ft AGL increasing to 12500 ft AGL late in
the afternoon.
Transport winds.....Northwest 10 to 15 mph shifting to the west
around 20 mph late in the afternoon.
TIME (MDT) 6AM 7AM 8AM 9AM 10A 11A 12P 1PM 2PM 3PM 4PM 5PM
Sky (%).........32 32 32 13 13 13 5 5 5 5 3 3
Weather cov.....
Weather type....
Tstm cov........
CWR.............10 10 10 10 10 10 0 0 0 0 0 0
Chc of thdr (%).0 0 0 0 0 0 10 10 10 10 10 10
Temp............70 72 75 78 82 85 88 90 91 92 93 94
RH..............56 52 46 40 34 29 25 22 20 19 18 17
20 FT wind dir..W W W NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW
20 FT wind spd..10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
20 FT wind gust.15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 20 20 20
Ridge wind dir..SW SW W W W W W W W W W W
Ridge wind spd..15 15 15 15 15 20 20 20 20 20 20 20
Mix hgt (kft)...0.5 0.5 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.5 4.5 5.5 8.0 8.0 13 11
Transp wind dir.NW W W NW NW NW NW W W W W W
Transp wind spd.10 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 20 20 20 20
$$
Forecaster...Moldan
Requested by...Lewistown Dispatch
Type of request...WILDFIRE
.TAG 2617659.0/TFX
.DELDT 07/18/26
.FormatterVersion 2.0.0
.EMAIL mtlec@firenet.gov, tfx.ops@noaa.gov