026
FXUS65 KBYZ 262340
AFDBYZ

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Billings MT
440 PM MST Wed Nov 26 2025

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Near to below normal temperatures through Friday. Periods of
  light rain/snow possible (20-50%) Thursday.

- Locally dense fog / freezing fog tonight & tomorrow morning in
  Eastern Montana and Wyoming.

- Areas across south central MT can expect to see 2-5 inches of
  snow Friday with 1-3 inches expected for southeast MT and north
  central WY. Use caution if traveling as gusty winds could reduce
  visibility.

- Much colder temperatures Saturday through Monday with a 20-50%
  chance of seeing morning lows at or below zero Sunday morning.

&&

.DISCUSSION...

Now through Tuesday...

A shortwave clipper system continues to drop through the region
bringing lights snow to most of the CWA. While most locations
outside of the mountains will not pick up any measurable snow with
this event, a quick dusting on grassy surfaces remains possible.
Remember that any winter weather can cause travel impacts so be
sure to remain weather aware if you have travel plans today.

For Thanksgiving, we will see some shortwave riding briefly build
in. This will allow for a mostly dry day with temps warming up to
average across the CWA. While most of us will remain dry, some
light snow showers remain a possibility in the mountains and
foothills of south-centeral Montana due to the upslope caused by
the moisture return ahead of the next system. Little to no
accumulation is anticipated with these showers.

There is also a very good signal for widespread fog with
localized dense pockets in the plains tonight into tomorrow
morning. The snow showers today will only aid in the anomalously
high moisture content across the region. As skies clear out with
the previously mentioned height rises, radiational cooling should
have absolutely no problem reaching the dewpoint. As height falls
and high clouds build in during the early part of Thanksgiving,
temperatures will take a lengthy period of time to warm up and
thus patches of fog may even linger into the early afternoon for
parts of eastern Montana.

Late Thursday into early Friday the next trough should make its
way into the Northern Rockies bringing with it a sagging cold
front out of the NW. Models are trending slightly faster with
this feature which could limit the duration of the snowfall across
the region. While the main band is now looking like it will set up
over northern Montana, that doesn`t mean that we still won`t see
the largest snow of the season so far (excluding the mountains).
It looks like most of the snow should fall during the day Friday
into early Saturday with just som lingering flurries into
saturday night. There is a very slight chance that a band of
orographically enhances snow sets up in/or around the Billings
area which may produce locally higher amounts, however, this is
not currently depicted in any hi-res model.

Following this system, the cold air that was ushered in by the
front will hang around for a few days. This will then bring us the
coldest temperatures of the season where most of us will be
feeling lows in the singe digits F Sunday and Monday morning.

There then may be a brief break on Monday and into early Tuesday
with average and dry weather before a another system moves into
the region. It is too early to talk specifics, however, ensembles
are in good agreement that there will be at least some widespread
snow mid next week. WMR

.AVIATION...

Issued 2330Z.
Localized fog and low stratus are expected tonight thru tomorrow
morning (03-18z) mainly from KBIL-KSHR eastward, with the greatest
potential for sub-VFR in the northeast from KMLS to KBHK. Fog at
KBIL & KSHR is much less confident (20% chance) but will need to
be watched. Also, a brief period of light snow is possible over
the west early tomorrow. Mountains will be occasionally obscured
over the next 24 hours. JKL

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS...

    Thu     Fri     Sat     Sun     Mon     Tue     Wed
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 026/039 027/033 012/020 005/022 009/033 023/038 024/034
    11/E    29/O    81/B    11/B    00/B    24/S    42/S
LVM 025/044 027/038 007/028 009/030 014/037 025/040 024/037
    12/J    29/O    60/B    11/B    01/B    25/S    52/S
HDN 023/042 025/034 013/021 002/022 004/033 017/038 020/033
    11/E    29/S    92/S    11/B    01/B    25/O    63/S
MLS 017/033 025/032 013/018 000/018 003/029 016/036 017/030
    01/E    36/S    91/E    00/B    00/B    23/S    41/E
4BQ 024/038 025/036 015/019 006/022 009/033 019/038 021/030
    01/E    14/S    82/S    00/B    00/B    12/S    42/S
BHK 012/031 018/028 009/018 902/017 001/026 012/033 012/028
    00/E    15/S    92/S    00/B    00/B    12/S    31/E
SHR 020/041 019/038 007/021 004/026 006/036 016/041 019/034
    10/B    05/O    92/S    11/B    01/B    13/O    63/S

&&

.BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...None.
WY...None.

&&

$$
weather.gov/billings