310
FXUS65 KBYZ 190814
AFDBYZ

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Billings MT
214 AM MDT Sat Apr 19 2025

.KEY MESSAGES...

- After drier and warmer conditions prevail today, cooler and
  unsettled weather is anticipated Sunday and into the next work
  week.

- Several inches of snowfall are possible in the high country
  Sunday through Monday night.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Through Saturday night...

Positively tilted high pressure ridge flops over the region
today. We should see temps bounce to the 50s and mid 60s with
some locally breezy conditions developing by afternoon as we mix
down. Look for afternoon gusts in the 25-35 mph range over the
western half of the CWA. Kept our forecast highs boosted a bit
over guidance due to decent mixing.

A weak short wave quickly breaks down the upper ridge Saturday
night with its associated Pacific front entering our CWA from the
west, and spreading mountain snow and scattered lower elevation
rain showers across the area. A stronger upper trough then tracks
into Montana Sunday night into Monday. This system has much
better dynamics involved and should lead to some robust bands of
precipitation pushing west to east over the region. Instability is
such that some thunder is also possible across our western CWA
Sunday evening. Look for highs Sunday to be seasonal in the 50s.
Overnight lows will be in the 30s. BT


Monday through Saturday...

The best chance for precipitation looks to be Monday into early
Tuesday as the trough moves across the region. From Yellowstone
County west continues to be where the most precip is expected,
with a 50-70% chance of more than 0.25" Sunday through Tuesday.
Over the western mountains, the chance of more than 6 inches of
snow over the same time period is currently 70%, favoring W/SW
facing slopes. Through the rest of the week, low (20-40% over the
plains, 30-50% over the mountains) chances of precip continue as
the pattern remains unsettled, with generally less than a 30%
chance of more than a 0.1" of precip each day.

Highs will generally be in the 50s to low 60s, increasing towards
the end of the week, and reaching 60s to low 70s by the weekend.
Archer
&&

.AVIATION...

Wind gusts around 20-30 kts will continue through the afternoon
near and west of KBIL, including KLVM. Mid to high clouds will
begin to move in from the west this afternoon. Archer
&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS...

    Tdy Sun     Mon     Tue     Wed     Thu     Fri
-------------------------------------------------------
BIL 062 043/060 040/056 036/057 036/057 038/061 042/062
    0/U 35/W    49/W    52/W    13/W    23/W    34/W
LVM 061 037/058 035/049 028/053 032/054 035/058 038/060
    0/N 45/W    69/T    42/W    13/W    23/W    35/W
HDN 063 039/060 038/058 034/058 034/059 037/062 041/064
    0/U 35/W    39/W    63/W    13/W    33/W    34/W
MLS 063 036/057 037/058 037/056 031/058 038/061 040/062
    0/U 13/W    38/W    42/W    11/B    32/W    23/W
4BQ 060 032/057 035/058 037/055 034/057 038/059 041/062
    0/U 02/W    17/W    42/W    12/W    33/W    34/W
BHK 061 030/058 033/058 033/054 029/057 034/059 036/059
    0/U 02/W    18/W    53/W    11/B    33/W    23/W
SHR 058 030/054 030/055 030/054 030/057 032/060 037/063
    0/U 14/W    18/T    53/W    13/W    34/W    45/W

&&

.BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...None.
WY...None.

&&

$$
weather.gov/billings