Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Great Falls, MT

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951 FXUS65 KTFX 192027 AFDTFX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Great Falls MT 227 PM MDT Wed Jun 19 2024 .SYNOPSIS...
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This afternoon and evening and Thursday afternoon and evening there will be isolated showers and thunderstorms primarily across North-central and Central Montana. On Friday afternoon and evening a strong shortwave trough will move through the area which will bring strong to severe storms to North-central and Central Montana. Saturday and Sunday it will warm up over the area. For Monday through the middle of next week there is uncertainty in the weather pattern at this time.
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&& .DISCUSSION...
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This afternoon through Thursday... This afternoon there will be isolated showers and thunderstorms across North-central and Central Montana and the northern portion of Southwestern Montana due to a shortwave that is moving through the zonal upper-level flow. North-central and Central Montana have a 10 - 40% chance for a tenth of an inch of rain or greater this afternoon and evening. Thursday morning portions of North-central and Central Montana that receive rain have a low chance for patchy fog. On Thursday an upper-level ridge begins to move over North-central, Central, and Southwestern Montana. This will bring warmer temperatures to the area on Thursday. On Thursday an upper-level shortwave moves through the upper-level ridge which will produce isolated showers and thunderstorms over North-central and Central Montana. On Thursday there is a 10 - 20% chance for 5 hundreths of an inch of rain or greater across North-central and Central Montana. Friday... On Friday the upper-level ridge remains over North- central, Central, and Southwestern Montana. This will keep about seasonal average temperatures across the area. During Friday afternoon and evening a strong shortwave trough moves through the area which will bring strong to severe storms to North-central and Central Montana. There will be heavy rain with some of these storms in addition to hail and strong wind gusts. On Friday in Hill, Blaine, Eastern Choteau, and Fergus Counties there is a 20 - 50% chance for half an inch of rain or greater. On Friday across the rest of North-central and Central Montana there is a 20 - 50% chance for a quarter inch of rain or greater. On Friday across Southwestern Montana there is 10 - 20% chance for a tenth of an inch of rain or greater. Continue to monitor the forecast for details. Saturday and Sunday... On Saturday an upper-level ridge begins to move back over North-central, Central, and Southwestern Montana. This will warm up temperatures and bring dry weather to the area. On Sunday the upper-level ridge will remain over North-central, central, and Southwestern Montana. This will continue to warm up temperatures. On Sunday Central Montana and the lower-elevations of Southwestern Montana have a 50 - 90% chance of temperatures of 90 or greater. On Sunday it will be dry across North-central, Central, and Southwestern Montana. Monday through next Wednesday... On Monday clusters indicate that an upper-level ridge is over Eastern Mountana with southwest flow aloft over North-central, Central, and Southwestern Montana. The strength and exact positioning of this ridge differ between clusters. On Tuesday two of the clusters (44% of ensemble members) have an upper-level ridge over North-central, Central, and Southwestern Montana. The other two clusters (56% of ensemble members) have an upper-level trough moving over the area. On next Wednesday the clusters are very similar to Tuesday over North- central, Central, and Southwestern Montana. This indicates that for Monday through next Wednesday the weather pattern could be warm and dry or cooler and wetter. -IG
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&& .AVIATION... 19/18Z TAF Period VFR conditions will prevail across all terminals during this TAF period. Across all terminals excluding the KEKS, KBZN, and KWYS terminals there is a 20 - 40% chance for an isolated thunderstorm or rain shower Wednesday afternoon and evening. Due to the isolated nature, low probability, and low confidence in the timing of the rain showers and thunderstorms there is not a mention of rain showers or thunderstorms in any of those TAFs, but they will be monitored for amendments. Outside of these showers and thunderstorms which could lower ceilings and produce erratic wind gusts there will be few to scattered high-level clouds with light and variable winds for those terminals during this TAF period. There will be light and variable winds with few high-level clouds at the KWYS, KEKS, and KBZN terminals during this TAF period. There is a low chance of fog at the North-central and Central Montana terminals (KCTB, KHVR, KGTF, and KLWT) early to mid-morning on Thursday especially if any of those terminals receive rain Wednesday afternoon or evening. -IG Refer to weather.gov/zlc for more detailed regional aviation weather and hazard information. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
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GTF 40 74 50 77 / 10 10 10 60 CTB 37 72 45 73 / 20 20 10 70 HLN 44 79 53 83 / 20 10 10 40 BZN 38 76 47 80 / 0 10 10 30 WYS 29 71 38 75 / 0 10 0 20 DLN 37 74 44 81 / 0 0 0 10 HVR 43 78 52 77 / 10 10 20 80 LWT 40 71 48 73 / 20 30 20 80
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&& .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ http://www.weather.gov/greatfalls