Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Glasgow, MT
Issued by NWS Glasgow, MT
790 FXUS65 KGGW 082050 AFDGGW Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Glasgow MT 250 PM MDT Sun Mar 8 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Strong chinook winds expected through this afternoon. Dusty conditions until winds settle tonight. - High Wind Warning through 9 PM for Phillips, 6 PM for Petroleum, Valley, and Garfield counties. - Red Flag Warning through 9 PM for Phillips, Petroleum, Valley, Garfield, Mccone, Richland, Dawson, Prairie, Wibaux counties. - A Winter Weather Advisory from 6 PM to 6 AM tomorrow for the Little Rockies. - Unsettled weather pattern through the week. && .DISCUSSION... WEATHER PATTERN OVERVIEW: Synoptic Setup: Forecast begins with a weak ridge over the northern Plains and southern Canadian Prairie Provinces embedded in otherwise zonal flow. The nose of this ridge has dipped off the front range to generate a Chinook down the Plains through today which is butting up against a cold frontal boundary at the International Border. Tonight: As the chinook shuts off the cold front will advance south generating an area of lift just north of it which will begin wringing out rain transitioning to snow especially across the far west. Snow totals going into Monday morning will reach upward and possible above 2 inches over the Little Rockies due to some upslope. Therefore a Winter Weather Advisory for snow was issued. Monday through Wednesday: Cooler pacific airmass will press into the region for a cold start to Monday but should slowly warm/modify by Wednesday. Isolated chances for rain or snow are possible Tuesday afternoon and evening. Wednesday night into Thursday: Another Chinook overnight followed by a cold front That afternoon is looking likely and a quick ridge/trough couplet moves through the region. Strong winds are already building themselves into the forecast and a persistent monitoring for possible high winds are taking place over these time periods. Friday onward: Post cold front it looks like a more Arctic airmass moves in rather than Pacific airmass. This will drop temps closer to normal for the area through the weekend. FORECAST CONFIDENCE & DEVIATIONS: Blended 75% NBM90 and hand edits in areas of expected strong gusting. Added widespread gusts >60 mph in Petroleum and Valley counties and >55 mph in Garfield. Confidence is HIGH for placement and totals for snow tonight. Confidence is HIGH for another ridge/trough couplet to cause a chinook followed by a cold front mid to late work week. Though confidence is MODERATE to LOW in the exact timing. && .AVIATION... LAST UPDATE: 2000Z FLIGHT CAT RANGE: VFR - MVFR DISCUSSION: Isolated rain and snow showers impacting the terminals around 00-02Z. This may reduce visibility briefly but currently is not expected to drop below MVFR. All snow should clear from the terminals by Monday evening if not earlier. WIND: W at 30 - 40 with gusts up to 55 kts through 0Z. Through the night winds slowly veer N and decreasing to 15-20 gust 35 kts. By tomorrow morning winds continue to veer becoming W again by 18Z. && .GGW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Red Flag Warning until 9 PM MDT this evening for Dawson/McCone/Prairie/Richland/Wibaux Counties-Northern Valley and Northern Phillips Counties-Southern Petroleum and Southern Garfield Counties-The Little Rockies-The Lower Missouri River Breaks including the Charles M Russell National Wildlife Refuge. High Wind Warning until 6 PM MDT this evening for Central and Southeast Phillips-Central and Southern Valley-Garfield-Northern Phillips-Northern Valley-Petroleum. High Wind Warning until 9 PM MDT this evening for Southwest Phillips. Winter Weather Advisory from 6 PM this evening to 6 AM MDT Monday for Southwest Phillips. && $$ weather.gov/glasgow