Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Billings, MT
Issued by NWS Billings, MT
674
FXUS65 KBYZ 041925
AFDBYZ
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Billings MT
125 PM MDT Sat Oct 4 2025
.KEY MESSAGES...
- Strong weather system continues to impact region thru the
weekend.
- Widespread precipitation thru Sunday, with significant mountain
snowfall.
- High probability of a frost or freeze Sunday night.
- Dry with a warming trend next week.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
Through next Saturday...
Satellite imagery shows upper low in western WY with associated
deformation zones pushing into south central MT and NW WY. Strong
divergent flow was evident from east central WY into southern MT.
This was all indicative of the strong synoptic ascent across the
region as the upper low system pushed through the Rockies with
radar showing widespread precipitation over our CWA.
As the upper low to the south tracks across Wyoming and into
North Dakota tonight we will see strong deep N/NE upslope develop
over our area enhancing precipitation potential over and near north
facing slopes. In the meantime, additional energy drops south out
of Canada into western MT and Idaho. This feature bring us colder
air Sunday, lowering snow levels with some gusty NW winds
developing.
Much of the synoptic ascent will focus across our eastern zones
Sunday, while the other energy dropping through western MT and
Idaho produces additional ascent and reinforces upslope
precipitation across our western mountains and foothills. Snow
levels drop to near 5500 ft which should result in some snow in
the Beartooth and Red Lodge foothills. How much is still
uncertain, but an inch or two of wet snow cannot be ruled out for
the Red Lodge vicinity, though it would likely accumulate on
grassy surfaces and not impact roads much. Currently the chance
of at an inch or more in the Red Lodge vicinity is around 40%.
By Sunday evening, much of the precipitation tapers down as a
surface high settles over eastern Montana.
Overall, total precip of 0.50-1.50" are still expected for many
locations, with up to 2" in some southern upslope areas. The
probability of a half inch or more is 65-95% (lowest north), and
there is still a reasonable 20-50% chance of exceeding 1.50"
(greatest along southern foothills). This event should put an end
to our wildfire season.
Snowfall Totals...Mountain snowfall will be heaviest above 8kft,
but accumulations will drop to near 6kft. The probability of at
least 12" above 8kft is 60-80% over north aspects of the
Beartooth-Absarokas, and 30-50% over the Crazy, Pryor and Bighorn
Mountains. Foothills snow down to 5-6kft is a possibility, but
as already mentioned this is much more uncertain. We still do not
anticipate snow levels falling lower than 5kft, so places like
Livingston and Sheridan should not be impacted (though snow could
affect I-90 over Bozeman Pass tonight into Sunday).
Many locations could see a frost or freeze Sunday night,
especially over our western foothills and nearby lower elevations
and river valleys. However, the chance of a freeze/frost has
decreased a bit for areas east and south where cloud cover could
linger. Be sure to play it safe if you have sensitive outdoor
plants. Billings has a 30% chance of reaching 32F Sunday night,
but surrounding notoriously colder spots have better potential
(40% or higher).
Monday through Saturday: Ensembles and cluster analysis lends
strong confidence to a ridge building over the region for the
early part of the work week. The ridge axis slides east after
midweek with upper flow backing to the southwest as the next upper
trough drops into the Pacific NW. This should mean a generally
dry period and warming trend through the week. Look for temps in
the 50s Monday, 60s Tuesday, and mid 60s to mid 70s for the
remainder of the week. There could be a shortwave moving across
southern Canada that brings a bit of cooling by Thursday or
Friday, but ensembles indicate quite a bit of uncertainty
pertaining to this. Overall, the next best chance of measurable
precipitation looks like next weekend as the upper trough settles
over the western CONUS and intermountain region pushing Pacific
moisture into our area...and possibly some moisture associated
with a tropical storm which is expected to form off the SW coast
of Mexico over the next couple days. BT
.AVIATION...
18z Discussion...
Widespread rain is expected for most of the forecast period with
snow in the mountains. While CIGs and VIS are VFR at the current
time, expect both to lower to MVFR this afternoon across the
entire forecast area. Brief dips to IFR cannot be ruled out
through 12z as well. On the backside of this system, around 15z
KLVM may see some snow mix in with rain before tapering off
quickly after; all other sites will see no frozen precipitation.
Winds will turn gusty after 02z at KSHR gusting out of the NW up
to 30kts in the precipitation. Mountains will be obscured for the
entire period. WMR
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS...
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 042/051 034/058 037/066 042/071 043/069 041/068 045/072
98/R 20/U 00/U 00/U 00/U 10/U 12/W
LVM 033/047 026/057 029/066 034/069 036/068 035/069 039/069
99/R 30/U 00/U 00/U 01/U 11/U 13/W
HDN 040/052 032/058 032/067 034/073 039/070 036/068 039/073
+8/R 20/U 00/U 00/U 00/U 10/U 11/U
MLS 045/056 032/058 034/067 040/072 042/069 039/069 042/073
+5/R 00/U 00/U 00/U 00/U 00/U 11/U
4BQ 043/052 035/056 035/064 043/072 042/069 040/068 044/073
+8/R 10/U 00/U 00/U 00/U 00/U 11/U
BHK 040/056 030/058 032/066 039/073 041/070 037/068 041/072
+7/R 00/U 00/U 00/U 00/U 00/U 11/U
SHR 035/048 029/056 028/065 033/072 037/069 035/068 039/074
+9/R 51/B 00/U 00/U 00/U 00/U 12/W
&&
.BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...Winter Storm Warning in effect until 6 PM MDT Sunday FOR
ZONES 67-68.
Winter Weather Advisory in effect from 6 PM this evening to
midnight MDT Sunday night FOR ZONE 171.
WY...Winter Weather Advisory in effect from 6 PM this evening to
midnight MDT Sunday night FOR ZONE 198.
&&
$$
weather.gov/billings