High Wind in Montana, December 26, 2002

SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
912 AM MST THU DEC 26 2002

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR TDY AND FRI...

MINOR UPDATE TO ZFP...NONE TO AFP...

A VERY NICE WINTER DAY IN STORE TODAY FOR SOUTHERN MONTANA. TEMPERATURES
WILL BE 5 TO 10 DEGREES WARMER TODAY THAN YESTERDAY AS DOWNSLOPE FLOW
INCREASES SCOURING OUT COLD AIRMASS. A COUPLE OF DISTURBANCES
PUSHING ACROSS SOUTHERN CANADA WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR INCREASING
THE PRESSURE GRADIENT LEE OF THE ROCKIES RESULTING IN GUSTY WINDS
THROUGH SATURDAY. CURRENT PACKAGE HAS A GOOD HANDLE ON THIS SO ONLY
ADJUSTMENT WILL BE TO VEER WINDS MORE TO THE SOUTHWEST IN THE EASTERN
ZONES. MOISTURE INCREASES ACROSS THE AREA BY EARLY EVENING BUT UNTIL
THEN PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES IN THE WEST WITH MOSTLY SUNNY IN THE EAST LOOKS
ON TRACK. COULD SEE A STRAY SNOW SHOWER MAKE IT INTO THE SOUTHWEST
MOUNTAINS BY LATE AFTERNOON SO SLIGHT CHANCE POPS THERE LOOK GOOD.
CHAMBERS

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR SAT...SUN...MON...TUE...WED...
HIGH CONFIDENCE EXTENDED FORECAST CONTINUES AS MODELS REMAIN FAIRLY
CONSISTENT WITH THE PATTERN FOR DAYS 3 THROUGH 7. AS A RESULT...THE
GOING EXTENDED FORECAST LOOKS IN GOOD SHAPE WITH ONLY SOME MINOR ISSUES
REMAINING CONCERNING MOSTLY TEMPERATURES. LATEST GFS AND ETA BRINGING
COLD AIR ADVECTION IN ON SATURDAY A LITTLE FASTER THAN PREVIOUS RUNS.
THIS COMBINED WITH LIGHTER AND NOT AS LINKED UP UPPER LEVEL WINDS NOW
LOOK TO KEEP TEMPS ON SATURDAY A FEW DEGREES COLDER THAN FRIDAY.
SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT AHEAD OF NEXT UPPER TROUGH SETS UP ON SATURDAY
NIGHT AND EARLY SUNDAY BRINGING SOME MOISTURE INTO THE FORECAST AREA.
NORTHWEST FLOW AT THE SURFACE WILL HELP TO SET UP PRECIP CHANCES MOSTLY
IN WESTERN ZONES SATURDAY NIGHT WHICH GOING FORECAST ALREADY COVERS. AS
UPPER TROUGH MOVES ACROSS THE AREA SUNDAY PRECIP CHANCES EXTENDED INTO
THE EASTERN ZONES AS WELL. TEMPERATURES SUNDAY WILL BE MUCH COOLER THAN
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY WITH TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE EARLY PART OF NEXT
WEEK REMAINING AROUND NORMAL LEVELS. MACZKO

    TDY FRI     SAT     SUN     MON     TUE     WED
-------------------------------------------------------
BIL 040 025/045 026/044 022/036 015/031 015/033 018/030
    0/B 00/E    00/B    33/J    30/B    00/B    00/E
LVM 037 026/042 023/040 019/032 012/029 012/031 013/028
    0/N 03/W    23/J    43/J    30/B    00/E    00/E
HDN 040 023/045 025/045 021/038 014/032 014/034 019/031
    0/U 00/E    00/B    23/J    30/B    00/B    00/E
MLS 040 013/041 021/041 019/036 012/030 012/032 018/029
    0/U 00/B    00/B    03/J    30/B    00/B    00/E
4BQ 039 021/045 022/044 019/040 014/031 014/033 017/030
    0/U 00/B    00/B    04/J    40/B    00/B    00/E
BHK 035 014/041 020/042 017/035 010/028 010/030 016/027
    0/U 00/E    00/B    04/J    40/B    00/B    00/E
SHR 040 021/044 023/045 021/038 014/030 014/032 017/029
    0/U 00/E    00/B    34/J    40/B    00/B    00/E

.BYZ...
MT...HIGH WIND WATCH FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT UPPER YELLOWSTONE VALLEY.
WY...NONE.

MTZ028>042-056>058-WYZ098-099-271200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
500 AM MST THU DEC 26 2002

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL...SOUTHEAST
MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING.

.DAY ONE...
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. STRONG SOUTHWEST
WINDS OF 20 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 45 MPH WILL CONTINUE IN THE
UPPER YELLOWSTONE VALLEY...BUT ARE NOT EXPECTED TO REACH WARNING
CRITERIA TODAY OR TONIGHT.

.DAY TWO THROUGH SEVEN...
A HIGH WIND WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE UPPER YELLOWSTONE VALLEY
FOR FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT...WHERE SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 35 TO 50 MPH
WITH GUSTS TO 65 MPH ARE POSSIBLE. SEE GTFNPWBYZ FOR DETAILS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

HUMPHREY
WCJIN-WYNW-WYNE