High Wind Warning 7, NWS Great Falls, MT

407 
WWUS75 KTFX 290958
NPWTFX

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Great Falls MT
258 AM MST Wed Jan 29 2025

MTZ302-300100-
/O.CON.KTFX.HW.W.0007.250129T1000Z-250130T1300Z/
Northern High Plains-
Including the following locations: Heart Butte, Browning, and
Dupuyer
258 AM MST Wed Jan 29 2025

...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM MST THURSDAY...

* WHAT...West winds 45 to 55 mph, with gusts up to 75 mph expected.

* WHERE...Northern High Plains.

* WHEN...Until 6 AM MST Thursday.

* IMPACTS...High winds may move loose debris, damage property and 
  cause power outages. Travel could be difficult, especially for 
  high profile vehicles.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The strongest winds are expected to occur 
  along and west of the US Highway 89 corridor, most notably in and 
  near the Badger Creek and Two Medicine River valleys between 
  Browning and the Montana Highway 44 Junction.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

People are urged to secure loose objects that could be blown around 
or damaged by the wind.

&&

$$

MTZ303-300100-
/O.CON.KTFX.HW.W.0007.250129T1300Z-250130T1300Z/
Eastern Glacier, Western Toole, and Central Pondera-
Including the following locations: Santa Rita, Ethridge, and Cut
Bank
258 AM MST Wed Jan 29 2025

...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM THIS MORNING TO 6 
AM MST THURSDAY...

* WHAT...West winds 35 to 45 mph, with gusts up to 60 mph expected.

* WHERE...Eastern Glacier, Western Toole, and Central Pondera 
  Counties.

* WHEN...From 6 AM this morning to 6 AM MST Thursday.

* IMPACTS...High winds may move loose debris, damage property and 
  cause power outages. Travel could be difficult, especially for 
  high profile vehicles.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The strongest winds are expected to occur 
  west of a line from Valier, to Cut Bank, to Santa Rita, with 
  routes like Montana Highway 44 west of Valier and US Highway 2 
  west of Cut Bank being the most impacted.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

People are urged to secure loose objects that could be blown around 
or damaged by the wind.

&&

$$

SC

740 
WWUS75 KTFX 292020
NPWTFX

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Great Falls MT
120 PM MST Wed Jan 29 2025

MTZ302-301230-
/O.CON.KTFX.HW.W.0007.000000T0000Z-250130T1300Z/
Northern High Plains-
Including the following locations: Heart Butte, Browning, and
Dupuyer
120 PM MST Wed Jan 29 2025

...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM MST THURSDAY...

* WHAT...West winds 45 to 55 mph, with gusts up to 75 mph expected.

* WHERE...Northern High Plains.

* WHEN...Until 6 AM MST Thursday.

* IMPACTS...High winds may move loose debris, damage property and 
  cause power outages. Travel could be difficult, especially for 
  high profile vehicles.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The strongest winds are expected to occur 
  along and west of the US Highway 89 corridor, most notably in and 
  near the Badger Creek and Two Medicine River valleys between 
  Browning and the Montana Highway 44 Junction.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

People are urged to secure loose objects that could be blown around 
or damaged by the wind.

&&

$$

MTZ303-301230-
/O.CON.KTFX.HW.W.0007.000000T0000Z-250130T1300Z/
Eastern Glacier, Western Toole, and Central Pondera-
Including the following locations: Santa Rita, Ethridge, and Cut
Bank
120 PM MST Wed Jan 29 2025

...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM MST THURSDAY...

* WHAT...West winds 30 to 40 mph, with gusts up to 60 mph.

* WHERE...Eastern Glacier, Western Toole, and Central Pondera 
  Counties.

* WHEN...Until 6 AM MST Thursday.

* IMPACTS...High winds may move loose debris, damage property and 
  cause power outages. Travel could be difficult, especially for 
  high profile vehicles.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...The strongest winds are expected to occur 
  west of a line from Valier, to Cut Bank, to Santa Rita, with 
  routes like Montana Highway 44 west of Valier and US Highway 2 
  west of Cut Bank being the most impacted.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

People are urged to secure loose objects that could be blown around 
or damaged by the wind.

&&

$$

Moldan

855 
WWUS75 KTFX 300832
NPWTFX

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Great Falls MT
132 AM MST Thu Jan 30 2025

MTZ302-303-300945-
/O.CAN.KTFX.HW.W.0007.000000T0000Z-250130T1300Z/
Northern High Plains-Eastern Glacier, Western Toole, and Central
Pondera-
Including the following locations: Ethridge, Santa Rita, Cut
Bank, Heart Butte, Browning, and Dupuyer
132 AM MST Thu Jan 30 2025

...HIGH WIND WARNING IS CANCELLED...

The threat for strong winds has ended.

$$

Brusda

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Great Falls MT
1033 AM MST Tue Jan 28 2025

Aviation Section Updated.

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Cold temperatures will continue to affect the valleys of
  Southwest MT through about Thursday.

- Windy conditions develop on Wednesday and continue into Thursday
  in the Browning and Cut Bank areas.

- Snow develops on Friday morning in Glacier Park and the Marias
  Pass area.

- Strong cold front moves southward through the CWA starting on
  Saturday.

- Accumulating snowfall shifted southward into Southwest MT this
  weekend.

&&

.UPDATE...
/Issued 948 AM MST Tue Jan 28 2025/

Minimal adjustments made this morning, with the only change being
made to temperatures to account for the cold starting points in
some of the Southwest Montana valleys. Otherwise the previous
forecast addressed the main concern of the day well, which is the
stubborn cold air mass across the Southwest Montana valleys, which
will help to keep temperatures well below any available
deterministic guidance. Thus a heavy blend of persistence and the
colder probabilistic guidance (i.e. NBM10th Percentile) was
employed. - Moldan

&&

.DISCUSSION...
/Issued 948 AM MST Tue Jan 28 2025/

 - Meteorological Overview:
An upper level ridge of high pressure continues to reside just of
the coast of the Pacific Northwest, resulting in quiet weather
conditions currently over MT. The quiet weather now will give way
to windy conditions starting on Wednesday and continuing into
Thursday in the Browning/Cut Bank areas. With a core of 50 knot
winds between 500 and 1000 feet above ground level from 6 AM Wed
to 6 AM Thu, there is the potential that these strong winds could
mix down at times. Thus a high wind watch has been issued for the
Cut Bank zone for this time. There is the potential for the strong
winds to continue into Thu in these same areas. By Friday, the
upper level ridge breaks down, and a fast moving westerly flow
develops aloft, this will result in snow falling along the divide,
especially up in Glacier Park. On Saturday, a strong Canadian cold
front will start to move southward through the CWA. Forecast
models have significantly reduced the snowfall over North Central
MT with this front, and now show the best lift/moisture colliding
over Southwest MT. By Monday morning, mid level winds will have
switched to the Southwest, allowing for a widespread area of
overrunning snowfall to develop over Southwest and North Central
MT. But again, some forecast models don't show the snow going
very far north into North Central MT, so there is some
uncertainty.

In terms of temperatures, I did keep the valleys of Southwest MT
colder than guidance through Thursday. Generally, warming
temperatures about 3 to 5 degrees each day over the next few
days. Overall NBM temperatures look reasonable over North Central
MT, but with windy conditions at night, overnight lows might be a
bit warmer than currently forecasted. Behind the cold front this
weekend, expect the cold air to move southward into North Central
MT, but the cold air will struggle to make it all the way south
to like Dillon/West Yellowstone area.

 - Forecast Confidence & Scenarios:

There is up to a 70 percent chance of wind gusts over 60 mph in
the Cut Bank area for Wednesday and a 50 percent chance on
Thursday.

For Glacier Park, there is a 75 percent chance of a snowfall over
6 inches from Friday into Friday night.

Snowfall of a few inches look likely over Southwest MT Saturday
into Saturday night, with the main concern being an hour or two
of heavy snowfall.

For next week, there is a 30 percent chance of 4 inches of
snowfall from Great Falls to Lewistown with the potential
overrunning snowfall Mon into Tue.

With the snow cover decreasing over North Central MT and not much
snow expected this weekend, temperatures over the north will be
tricky, as it might not get as cold as one would think with this
airmass and areas over North Central MT that have no snow cover.
Brusda

&&

.AVIATION...
28/18Z TAF Period

VFR conditions are expected to persist through the TAF period for
all sites in north-central, central, and southwest Montana. Winds
will remain light in the valleys and breezy along the plains of
north-central Montana. Mid-level winds will increase out of the
west after 29/06Z causing increased mountain wave turbulence and
spreading low-level wind shear into KCTB, KGTF, and KHVR. The
strongest winds are expected to arrive after 29/12Z and continue
through most of the day on Wednesday.  -thor

Refer to weather.gov/zlc for more detailed regional aviation
weather and hazard information.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
GTF  38  23  46  31 /   0   0   0   0
CTB  39  24  45  31 /   0   0   0   0
HLN  23  11  27  11 /   0   0   0   0
BZN  21   0  25   2 /   0   0   0   0
WYS  29  -9  30  -6 /   0   0   0   0
DLN  23   6  25   7 /   0   0   0   0
HVR  36  19  40  20 /   0   0   0   0
LWT  41  21  47  23 /   0   0   0   0

&&

.TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
High Wind Watch from late tonight through late Wednesday night
for Eastern Glacier, Western Toole, and Central Pondera.

&&

http://www.weather.gov/greatfalls