Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Great Falls, MT
Issued by NWS Great Falls, MT
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496 FXUS65 KTFX 151951 AFDTFX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Great Falls MT 151 PM MDT Sun Sep 15 2024 .SYNOPSIS... Seasonably mild temperatures and mostly dry conditions continue through Monday before the next fall weather system approaches and brings an initial wave of scattered showers and thunderstorms Monday and Tuesday. Periods of widespread rain and cool, raw conditions are then expected Tuesday night through early Thursday. && .DISCUSSION... Southwesterly flow ahead of a Pacific NW trough will continue to bring variable cloudiness and a few lighter end showers to the northwestern two thirds of the CWA. Lapse rate up to around 8C/km may also initiate a few isolated storms over the higher terrain of the southwest this evening. Later tonight into Monday the Pacific trough dives southeastward toward the Great Basin and pushes additional moisture and instability into the Northern Rockies. An initial wave of showers and storms look to develop over the southwest late tonight with additional rounds of convective activity spreading northward Monday and Monday night. Ensembles are now favoring the Pacific trough to move south of the MT/ID border before trekking northward through eastern MT and eventually into the Canadian prairies on Wednesday. Scattered showers and thunderstorms will continue during the day on Tuesday with the latest cams looking more favorable for strong to severe thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon, particularly for plains locations east of I15. MLCAPE values in these areas may exceed 1,500 J/kg while deep moisture streams in from the southeast and bulk shear increases to the 25 to 35 kt range. Strong gusty winds, heavy downpours, and hail will be valid concerns if these initial cam models are correct and the expected pattern holds together. The most widespread period of general rains is likely to occur Tuesday night into Wednesday, though precipitation may linger a little longer for central/north-central location east of I15. 72 hour exceedance probabilities of 1 inch or more of rainfall for the the period ending 6 am Thursday have increased to the 60 to 80 percent range for most of Central/North-central MT with probabilities for 2 inches or more now running above 50 percent for the Golden Triangle area. Southwestern location south of the highway 12 corridor don`t look to fare as well, but still look to see storm totals mostly between a quarter and half inch. There remains a risk for locally excessive precipitation over sensitive burn scar areas and additional areas may also be impacted should the potential for higher rainfall totals increase further. Snow levels look to fall as low as around 7,000 ft, lowest over the southwest late Tuesday and early Wednesday. Measurable snow should mostly be limited to the higher mountain peaks. Winds will also be a concern over the plains on Wednesday when H700/H500 40 to 50 kt winds wrap around the departing trough. Wind exceedence Probabilities support sustained winds over 25 mph (80 + percent chance), along with similar probabilities for gusts over 40 mph. This in combination with rain, summer foliage, and a slightly more northerly directional component may increase impacts compared to most run of the mill wind events of similar magnitude. No wind highlights are planned as of right now, but this situation will be closely monitored over next few days. - RCG Larger scale troughing remains across the western US in the wake of the exiting low later this week with troughing shifting eastward next weekend. There is still considerable spread/uncertainty with features moving through the trough by next weekend with some potential for a cooler system in NW flow moving across the area. - Hoenisch && .AVIATION... 15/18Z TAF Period The main concern this TAF period will be for a few showers and an isolated thunderstorm or two across Central and Southwest Montana this afternoon and evening. Additional showers move in from the south overnight, though look to largely be confined to Southwest Montana. Overall, confidence in timing/location of any precipitation was not high enough to include a mention in TAFs at this time. VFR conditions largely prevail, but may briefly become MVFR within a thunderstorm. -AM Refer to weather.gov/zlc for more detailed regional aviation weather and hazard information. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GTF 45 72 49 71 / 20 20 40 80 CTB 43 70 45 69 / 20 20 30 80 HLN 50 74 51 71 / 20 40 60 90 BZN 46 77 46 68 / 20 70 70 80 WYS 38 69 36 55 / 30 80 90 90 DLN 46 75 45 60 / 50 60 80 80 HVR 48 77 52 78 / 20 30 40 70 LWT 45 74 47 73 / 10 30 40 80 && .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ http://www.weather.gov/greatfalls