Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Billings, MT
Issued by NWS Billings, MT
012 FXUS65 KBYZ 222123 AFDBYZ Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Billings MT 323 PM MDT Wed May 22 2024 .DISCUSSION... Today through Thursday night... .KEY Messages... - Heavy precipitation for lower elevations and heavy snow for mountains starting tonight lasting through tomorrow. - Heavy rain could cause rises on area rivers and streams. Flood Watch has been issued for the Little Bighorn River at Hardin. Today will see increasing clouds moving from west to east ahead of our incoming storm. Starting around 18Z today showers and possibly a few thunderstorms will begin to make their way into our western regions. Starting overnight tonight, the boundary layer will start to moisten creating a deep saturated layer to 300mb. This will create tall and skinny soundings indicating favorable conditions for rainfall production. Around 12Z tomorrow, precipitation will become more widespread across our western regions. This will coincide with winds shifting to be out of the north/northwest as precipitation moves across the region. As we move into Thursday afternoon, the lower levels of the atmosphere will start to dry out with precipitation coming to an end from west to east with precipitation exiting into the Dakotas around 06Z Friday. Soundings indicate there will not be many thunderstorms with this system as this should be mostly a rain producing system. Widespread heavy precipitation is expected with most of the region having a 50-70% chance of >1in. Locations along the Dakotas border will see lighter precipitation with only a 20% chance for >1in. The higher terrain will be getting heavy snow from this event starting around 00Z this evening in the Beartooth and Crazy Mountains and 06Z tonight for the Bighorns. Most locations in the higher terrain have a 60-90% chance of getting over 1 foot of snow. Winter storm warnings have been issued for these locations. With the heaviest precipitation (1-2in) falling in Bighorn County and these locations seeing 150-300% of normal precipitation over the last 30 days, there are some flooding concerns. A flood watch has been issued for the Little Bighorn River at Hardin as it is expected to reach around 9ft which is 1 foot above minor flood stage. Winds will be gusty tomorrow afternoon into evening, especially in Sheridan County. Most of the region has a 50-70% chance of getting a wind gust >30mph with Sheridan County having a 50-60% chance of getting a gust >40mph. Temperatures tomorrow will be below normal with most locations in the low to mid 50s. Friday morning will be cool in the low 30s with a freeze possible for most locations west of Billings. Locations east of Billings will see temperatures in the mid to high 30s. Torgerson Friday through Wednesday... Friday starts out with weak upper ridging in most of the Clusters with the upper trough to our E. Deterministics showed weak cyclonic flow over the area and NBM had 20-30% PoPs for showers and thunderstorms from KBIL NW which agreed with Cluster mean precip. Next upper trough moves in for Saturday with PoPs increasing from W to E and near normal temps. PWAT`s will run around average values. Highest PoPs were W of KBIL in the 60s. Chances for .25 in of precip. or more were 20% Sat. night and 20-30% for Sunday. 40-60% PoPs continue for Sunday with weak troughing over the region. Near normal temps continue for Sunday. Monday will be warmer, in the low to mid 70s, as an upper ridge builds into the area. Only have low PoPs in the NE Bighorns. High temps climb into the low 80s for Tuesday and Wednesday with dry conditions, until Wed. afternoon when SW flow is possible over the area on the back side of the ridge. There is a 20-30% chance for showers/thunderstorms from KBIL W. No fire concerns due to good greenup and recent/expected weather systems. Arthur && .AVIATION... VFR conditions this afternoon will deteriorate to MVFR/IFR and possibly lower from W to E tonight as a storm system moves into the area with rain and a rain/snow mix. Mountains will become obscured. Surface wind gusts will increase into the 30s and 40s late tonight and Thursday morning across the area. MVFR/IFR or lower conditions will continue over most of the area through Thu. with mountain obscurations and gusty winds. Arthur && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS... Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed ----------------------------------------------------------- BIL 043/052 036/065 042/068 046/067 046/073 048/080 054/081 7+/T 32/R 14/T 65/T 21/U 01/U 12/T LVM 038/050 032/062 038/065 041/063 040/071 045/078 050/080 89/T 12/T 16/T 65/T 11/U 01/U 12/T HDN 043/052 034/067 039/071 046/068 043/074 045/081 051/084 59/T 51/U 13/T 65/T 21/U 00/U 11/U MLS 045/053 036/065 041/071 046/067 046/073 047/081 053/082 29/T 61/U 11/B 45/R 21/U 00/U 11/U 4BQ 045/057 037/064 040/069 045/066 046/071 046/080 052/082 28/T 81/U 01/B 45/R 21/U 00/U 00/U BHK 043/055 034/061 038/070 042/066 043/070 044/078 049/079 29/T 82/R 01/U 36/R 21/U 00/U 00/U SHR 038/052 031/063 037/066 040/064 040/070 044/078 048/082 39/T 71/U 02/T 56/T 21/U 00/U 01/U && .BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MT...Winter Storm Warning in effect until midnight MDT Thursday night FOR ZONES 67-68. Winter Storm Warning in effect from midnight tonight to 6 AM MDT Friday FOR ZONE 171. Winter Storm Watch in effect from Thursday morning through late Thursday night FOR ZONE 171. WY...Winter Storm Warning in effect from midnight tonight to 6 AM MDT Friday FOR ZONE 198. Winter Storm Watch in effect from Thursday morning through late Thursday night FOR ZONE 198. && $$ weather.gov/billings