High Wind Warning 26, NWS Great Falls, MT

516 
WWUS75 KTFX 162011
NPWTFX

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Great Falls MT
211 PM MDT Tue Jun 16 2026

MTZ301>303-307-308-315-170600-
/O.CON.KTFX.HW.W.0026.000000T0000Z-260617T0600Z/
East Glacier Park Region-Northern High Plains-Eastern Glacier,
Western Toole, and Central Pondera-Southern Rocky Mountain Front-
Southern High Plains-Upper Blackfoot and MacDonald Pass-
Including the cities of MacDonald Pass, Kiowa, East Glacier Park,
Heart Butte, Dupuyer, Marias Pass, Pendroy, Babb, Flesher Pass, Logan
Pass, Rogers Pass, Browning, Santa Rita, Saint Mary, Choteau, Bynum,
Marysville, Lincoln, Ethridge, and Cut Bank
211 PM MDT Tue Jun 16 2026

...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT MDT TONIGHT...

* WHAT...Westerly winds 30 to 40 mph with gusts up to 65 mph
  expected.

* WHERE...Upper Blackfoot and MacDonald Pass, Eastern Glacier,
  Western Toole, and Central Pondera, Northern High Plains, Southern
  High Plains, and Southern Rocky Mountain Front, and East Glacier
  Park Region Zone.

* WHEN...Until midnight MDT tonight.

* IMPACTS...Inclement conditions for outdoor recreation, especially
  activities involving boating or recreation in the mountains. Travel
  will be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Isolated
  power outages and or tree damage possible.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

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

&&

$$

MTZ313-170600-
/O.CON.KTFX.HW.W.0026.000000T0000Z-260617T0600Z/
Judith Basin County and Judith Gap-
Including the cities of Windham, Raynesford, Geyser, Hobson,
Stanford, Benchland, and Moccasin
211 PM MDT Tue Jun 16 2026

...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT MDT TONIGHT...

* WHAT...Westerly winds 30 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph
  expected.

* WHERE...Judith Basin County and Judith Gap.

* WHEN...Until midnight MDT tonight.

* IMPACTS...Inclement conditions for outdoor recreation, especially
  activities involving boating. Travel will be difficult, especially
  for high profile vehicles. Isolated power outages and or tree
  damage possible.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

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

&&

$$

MTZ320-170600-
/O.CON.KTFX.HW.W.0026.000000T0000Z-260617T0600Z/
Big Belt, Bridger and Castle Mountains-
Including the cities of Deep Creek Pass, Trident, Battle Ridge Pass,
Maudlow, and Bozeman Pass
211 PM MDT Tue Jun 16 2026

...HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT MDT TONIGHT...

* WHAT...Westerly winds 25 to 35 mph with gusts up to 60 mph
  expected.

* WHERE...Big Belt, Bridger and Castle Mountains.

* WHEN...Until midnight MDT tonight.

* IMPACTS...Inclement conditions for outdoor recreation, especially
  activities involving boating or recreation in the mountains. Travel
  will be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Isolated
  power outages and or tree damage possible.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

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

&&

$$

Brusda

702 
WWUS75 KTFX 170253
NPWTFX

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Great Falls MT
853 PM MDT Tue Jun 16 2026

MTZ301>303-307-308-313-315-320-170400-
/O.CAN.KTFX.HW.W.0026.000000T0000Z-260617T0600Z/
East Glacier Park Region-Northern High Plains-Eastern Glacier,
Western Toole, and Central Pondera-Southern Rocky Mountain Front-
Southern High Plains-Judith Basin County and Judith Gap-Upper
Blackfoot and MacDonald Pass-Big Belt, Bridger and Castle
Mountains-
Including the cities of Windham, Babb, Bynum, Geyser, Logan Pass,
Moccasin, Bozeman Pass, Ethridge, Pendroy, Lincoln, Trident, Choteau,
Heart Butte, Saint Mary, Kiowa, East Glacier Park, Marysville,
Maudlow, Dupuyer, Benchland, Stanford, Santa Rita, Rogers Pass,
Hobson, Raynesford, Cut Bank, Marias Pass, MacDonald Pass, Browning,
Battle Ridge Pass, Deep Creek Pass, and Flesher Pass
853 PM MDT Tue Jun 16 2026

...HIGH WIND WARNING IS CANCELLED...

The threat for high winds has ended.

$$

Glinskas

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Great Falls MT
1159 PM MDT Mon Jun 15 2026

Aviation Section Updated.

.KEY MESSAGES...

 - Warm and windy on Tuesday ahead of a cold front, which will
   bring scattered showers and thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon
   into Wednesday morning.

 - Seasonable temperatures return for the end of the week, though
   shower and thunderstorm chances increase towards the weekend.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
/Issued 541 PM MDT Mon Jun 15 2026/

 - Meteorological Overview:

Overall, tranquil conditions should persist across the area until
this ridge begins to flatten later this evening as our next weather
system approaches from the northwest. As this system approaches, a
few showers and thunderstorms are likely to develop along the Hi-
Line and gradually slide southward through the overnight hours,
bringing some light rain before decaying around midnight or so.

Winds will be the main story on Tuesday as our system arrives
into the area, bringing gusty winds to all of North Central and
Southwestern Montana. While winds are expected to remain below our
High Wind Warning criteria (58 mph gusts) for the most part, the
winds will still be somewhat impactful as they will pose some
difficulty for high profile vehicles and any fires that manage to
get started could be somewhat difficult to contain. Winds should
be a bit limited in duration, however, as a cold front coming in
from the north should undercut the strongest winds by the evening
hours, though thunderstorms along the front could help cause some
localized stronger gusts.

Beyond Tuesday, our weather will remain slightly active as the jet
stream remains overhead through Thursday, bringing a few afternoon
showers and thunderstorms to the area each day. Our next chance
for widespread precipitation will arrive Friday night and
Saturday, with multiple upper level troughs and lows coming ashore
the West Coast, bringing increased chances for showers and
thunderstorms. Ludwig

 - Forecast Confidence & Scenarios:

High wind potential on Tuesday...

H700 flow of 40-55kts, which is 2 to 3 standard deviations above
normal per NAEFS analysis, will overspread Southwest through North
Central Montana between 18z Tuesday and 06z Wednesday (in reality
this window will likely be more compressed to a 3 to 6 hour
timeframe like 21z Tue to 03z Wednesday) as an embedded shortwave
within northwest flow aloft begins to dive southeast and over the
Northern Rockies; with the core of strongest winds still expected to
reside north of the I-90 corridor and south of the US Hwy 2
corridor. At the surface a cold front across Alberta will begin to
surge south and across North Central by the late afternoon/early
evening hours, with this front progressing south and across Central
and Southwest Montana through the remainder of the evening and
overnight hours. The exact timing of this front will be critical
with respect to how long of an opportunity there will be for high
winds on Tuesday across areas, with a faster/earlier front limiting
the window for high winds while a slower/later front would support a
3-6 hour window. Given the time of year and limited amount of
(prog'd) cool air in wake of the front a slower/later front is more
likely vs a fast/earlier; however, residual cold pools from
convection tonight would also be in play.

Latest NBM5.0 probabilities for wind gusts in excess of 50kts
largely range from a 20-50% chance across most lower elevations
across the aforementioned areas (between the I-90 and US Hwy 2
corridors), with the exception of the Rocky Mountain Front where
probabilities range from a 60-75%. While these higher probabilities
for the Rocky Mountain Front, specifically the Cut Bank and Mission
Lake areas where High Wind criteria is 50kts vs further west where
it is 65kts, would suggest the need for a High Wind Warning a deeper
dive into BUFKIT soundings only supports a 1-2 hour window for these
winds. Given the brevity for the threat of high winds here we will
continue to hold off on any High Wind Watches or Warnings and
address the winds with a Special Weather Statement with future
shifts; however, should high winds develop earlier and persist
longer than expected then a short lead time warning would be needed.

Strong thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon/evening...

Showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop along the
southward advancing cold front on Tuesday, with ample shear and
sufficient instability (especially within the hail growth zone)
supporting the potential for a few strong thunderstorms along and
northwest of a Lewistown, to Great Falls, to Browning line. Within
this area latest HREF guidance support the best opportunity for an
isolated severe thunderstorm across Hill, Blaine, and Fergus
counties, most notably across Northern Blaine county. - Moldan

&&

.AVIATION...
16/06Z TAF Period

VFR conditions will prevail through most of the period. Brief
showers will move across the Hi-Line over the next couple hours
which may bring some light rain to KHVR.

West winds start to increase after 16/12Z with the strongest gusts
expected Tuesday afternoon and evening with gusts up to 40kts
possible for most terminals and gusts up to 50kts possible at
KCTB. LLWS may be a concern at times Tuesday morning before peak
mixing occurs.

There will be a chance for showers and thunderstorms Tuesday
afternoon and evening with the highest chances along the Hi-Line.
The main concerns will be gusty, erratic winds, small hail, and
periods of MVFR/IFR conditions.  -thor

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
GTF  58  86  50  71 /  20  10  50  40
CTB  59  80  45  67 /  10  40  70  50
HLN  56  86  52  75 /  10   0   0  20
BZN  48  88  52  75 /   0   0   0  10
WYS  38  82  40  73 /   0   0   0   0
DLN  48  86  48  77 /   0   0   0   0
HVR  54  85  48  70 /  30  50  60  40
LWT  50  82  45  65 /  20  10  90  20

&&

.TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.
&&

http://www.weather.gov/greatfalls