Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Missoula, MT

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423 FXUS65 KMSO 281924 AFDMSO Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Missoula MT 124 PM MDT Fri Jun 28 2024 .DISCUSSION...
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A ridge building over the region today will keep the weather nice through tomorrow. But another trough is on the way for Sunday as our active Spring and early Summer continues. The timing of the trough Sunday means the best dynamic support for thunderstorms will line up with the hottest, most unstable part of the day over southwest Montana including parts of Silver Bow and Deerlodge counties. There is 5 percent chance that some storms will be severe in that area on Sunday. In the long term, ensembles are showing quite a lot of variability for next week. Independence Day has quite a lot of variability with 83 percent of ensembles showing a ridge up stream. However, even with the majority of members showing the upstream ridge, there is enough variability in how far up stream the ridge axis is that it makes all the difference between showers and thunderstorms in northwest flow or clear skies. In either scenario, it will be warm, slightly above average for temperatures though. So this isn`t helpful for making a rain or thunderstorm forecast that far out. But it should be noted that even though current ensembles are very uncertain about the Independence Day forecast, that is itself a trend away from a hot dry ridge that they were showing as recently as yesterday. So overall, the ensembles are trending towards continuing the unsettled weather pattern.
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&& .AVIATION...
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A ridge building over the region today will keep VFR conditions at area terminals. The next significant weather system expected is a trough on Sunday which will bring another round of thunderstorms.
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&& .MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MT...None. ID...None. && $$