FXUS65 KBYZ 220740 AFDBYZ Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Billings MT 140 AM MDT Sun Mar 22 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Cooler and breezy today with scattered light precipitation early this morning. - Warm and dry conditions return Monday into Wednesday. - Westerly winds increase over the foothills west of Billings Wednesday ahead of our next system. - Weather system late Wednesday into Thursday brings cooler temperatures and the chance of light precipitation back to the area. - No significant precipitation events for the foreseeable future. && .DISCUSSION... Today through Saturday... A dynamic cold front moved through our area earlier last evening. Despite decent cold air advection, and some brief upper dynamic support, precipitation across our area in southern Montana under- achieved. The best forcing and deeper frontogenesis remained further north, the mid level winds remained westerly inducing downslope flow. The boundary layer moisture could just not rebound from such low levels. With that said, scattered light precipitation has now developed over southern Montana and northern Wyoming early this morning as a secondary wave moves through. Look for this precipitation to decrease through the morning hours as westerly downslope winds increase, allowing skies to clear and dry conditions to prevail during the day today. With these westerly winds, gusts in the 30s mph look to be common over the foothills west of Billings, with teens to 20s mph over the rest of the area. Temperatures will also be cooler in the 50s to lower 60s. Low amplitude ridging prevails over the region through the first half of the work week. Look for highs in the 60s to near 70 degrees Monday and Tuesday. There will be periodic breezy conditions along the western foothills, but enough pressure rises over the plains now and then will prevent much tightening of the pressure gradient over the foothills. Greater wind potential emerges by Tuesday night/Wednesday with enhanced pre-frontal downsloping. Current indications are for gusts up to 50 mph at the usual spots (Livingston, Big timber, Harlowton). We will monitor in case wind potential increases for this area. Model ensembles agree the upper ridge will get flattened after midweek as another short wave moves across the Rockies and pushes a Pacific front through the region Wednesday evening. This initially looks similar to yesterdays system and may not provide much precipitation. However, there is a hint of better energy trailing behind this leading to a stronger baroclinic band moving across our area Thursday night into Friday. Our current forecast does not indicate this yet due to low probability, but will not be surprised if the forecast trends wetter and cooler toward the end of the work week. For now, look for highs in the upper 40s and 50s Thursday & Friday, with lower 60s returning Saturday in what looks to be a return to upper level ridging. BT/Arends .AVIATION... Low stratus producing pockets of light precipitation, fog, and mountain obscurations will impact southern Montana and northern Wyoming early this morning. Look for these conditions to continue until winds shift out of the west by mid-morning, allowing precipitation and clouds to clear. VFR conditions with breezy westerly winds will then prevail across much of the area today. As winds decrease late this evening into tonight, mid to high clouds will move back over the region, but no additional precipitation is expected. Arends && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS... Tdy Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat ------------------------------------------------------- BIL 061 035/066 040/067 046/076 037/052 027/055 030/062 0/U 00/B 01/E 11/B 32/W 10/U 00/B LVM 059 035/066 041/064 050/069 034/052 026/056 030/061 0/N 00/B 02/W 32/W 21/N 00/U 00/B HDN 061 032/067 037/068 041/076 035/053 027/056 027/064 0/U 00/B 01/E 22/W 22/W 10/U 00/B MLS 056 030/061 035/061 042/070 031/046 025/051 027/059 0/B 00/B 00/E 22/W 11/B 00/U 00/B 4BQ 057 035/066 038/065 045/074 036/050 028/052 029/061 0/U 00/B 00/E 11/B 11/B 10/U 00/B BHK 052 028/059 030/057 038/066 028/042 021/049 026/057 0/N 00/B 00/E 21/B 21/B 00/U 00/B SHR 056 032/065 035/067 041/076 033/049 024/053 026/062 1/B 00/B 00/B 01/B 22/W 10/U 00/B && .BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MT...None. WY...None. && $$ weather.gov/billings