Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Great Falls, MT
Issued by NWS Great Falls, MT
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260 FXUS65 KTFX 291150 AFDTFX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Great Falls MT 450 AM MST Sat Nov 29 2025 Aviation Section Updated. .KEY MESSAGES... - Coldest air of the season thus far settled into the area overnight and will linger into Monday morning. - Next round of widespread snowfall arrives Tuesday. - Unsettled pattern looks likely late next week and beyond. && .DISCUSSION... /Issued 345 AM MST Sat Nov 29 2025/ Thanks to high pressure building at the surface and strong northerly flow aloft, the coldest air of the season so far has made its way into North Central and Southwestern Montana overnight, resulting in most locations seeing low temperatures dip into the single digits to below 0 overnight. This cold air will moderate during the day, but will remain well below freezing, which will make any icy roads slow to improve. Temperatures will moderate a bit on Sunday as the surface high pressure system slides to the east, allowing southerly surface flow to slowly erode the cold air out of the area. Temperatures will further moderate through the first half of the new week as upper level flow becomes a bit more zonal/westerly, allowing warmer air to spill over the Continental Divide, though this will also result in winds picking up and possibly resulting in some mild blowing/drifting of the recent snowpack. Upper level troughing will be quick to return to the area on Tuesday, however, bringing our next round of snowfall to the area as it does. While this system does not appear to have as much moisture to work with as our departing system did, there will still be enough snow to cause some minor travel impacts, particularly on the North Slopes of the Little Belt and Snowy Mountains (along and south of a Great Falls to Lewistown line). Behind this system, uncertainty increases on details, but overall models seem to suggest a generally active and unsettled weather pattern, with multiple chances for at least some mountain snowfall for the second half of the week. Ludwig && .AVIATION... 29/12Z TAF Period Snow has largely ended across North Central and Southwestern Montana this morning, with just a few areas of low to mid level stratus scattered across the area, particularly near KHVR. With high pressure building in, expect light winds and VFR conditions area wide today. Ludwig && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GTF 17 -4 20 8 / 0 0 0 0 CTB 8 -8 18 7 / 0 0 0 0 HLN 20 6 25 11 / 0 0 0 0 BZN 22 5 24 5 / 0 0 0 0 WYS 23 7 29 2 / 0 10 10 0 DLN 26 15 28 10 / 0 10 0 0 HVR 6 -15 5 -8 / 0 0 0 0 LWT 17 -1 23 7 / 0 0 0 0 && .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ http://www.weather.gov/greatfalls