Damaging Wind in Montana, July 23, 2003

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
245 PM MDT WED JUL 23 2003

.DISCUSSION...RECORD HEAT TO FINALLY END BUT VERY WARM TEMPERATURES
STILL IN STORE FOR THURSDAY.

TONIGHT...CULUMUS CLOUDS CONTINUE TO BUILD OVER SOUTHWEST MONTANA IN
A SLIGHTLY UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT THIS AFTERNOON. A FEW T-STORMS WILL
DEVELOP BY THIS EVENING...BUT WILL NOT BE MORE THAN ISOLATED IN
COVERAGE DUE TO DRY BOUNDARY LAYER. STORMS WILL DIE DOWN AFTER SUNSET
WITH NO DYNAMICS TO FUEL THEIR CONTINUATION.

THURSDAY...IT STILL APPEARS A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH MUCH
OF THE AREA...HOWEVER THE MUCH COOLER AIR WILL STAY LOCKED UP IN
CANADA WITH SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT DEVELOPING OVER MONTANA. SO TEMPS IN
THE MID-UPPER 90S WILL BE COMMON THROUGHOUT LOWER LYING AREAS.
INSTABILITY INCREASES OVER THE SOUTHWEST TOMORROW AFTERNOON...WITH A
DECENT PLUME OF MID-LEVEL MOISTURE ADVECTING IN. SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER THE SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS AND MOVE
EAST. STORMS WILL BE HIGH BASED WITH THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE GUSTY
WINDS. STORMS MAY START OFF DRY...BUT SHOULD QUICKLY TRANSITION TO
WET STORMS. WEAK DYNAMICS BUT MORE STABLE CONDITIONS WILL EXIST TO
THE NORTH...SO WILL MENTION JUST SLIGHT CHANCE OF STORMS FOR CENTRAL
AND EASTERN ZONES. EVEN THOUGH GFS IS PRODUCING A LOT OF PRECIP OVER
CENTRAL MONTANA...THERE ARE LIKELY CONVECTIVE FEEDBACK PROBLEMS.

FRIDAY...TEMPS WILL COOL OFF A FEW MORE DEGREES BUT WILL STILL REMAIN
ABOVE AVERAGE. MAINLY DRY CONDITIONS WITH LITTLE IN THE WAY OF
FORCING. A GENERAL FLAT RIDGE WILL REMAIN OVER THE AREA WITH
SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON STORMS IN THE
SOUTHWEST WITH WEAK INSTABILITY DEVELOPING. VILLANI

FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE KEEPS THE
AIRMASS HOT AND DRY. THE RIDGE AMPLIFIES FURTHER OVER THE WESTERN
UNITED STATES SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY FOR WARMER AND DRY
CONDITIONS. WINDS WILL GENERALLY BE LIGHT AS A THERMAL TROUGH BUILDS
OVER THE GREAT BASIN AND NORTHERN ROCKIES AND SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE
MOVES OVER MONTANA FROM THE NORTHWEST. THE TROUGH THEN PUSHES EAST
ACROSS THE AREA ON WEDNESDAY INCREASING THE WINDS AND SHIFTING THEM
MORE WESTERLY. ZELZER

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF UU 062/098 056/091 056 16002
    BUUUU 089/055 091/055 092/057 093/057 091 00000000000
CTB UU 059/093 053/085 052 16000
    BUUUU 085/053 087/051 088/053 090/053 088 00000000000
HLN BB 066/099 059/093 059 16112
    BUUUU 091/060 093/058 094/060 096/060 094 10000000000
BZN BB 056/097 054/091 053 16133
    BUUUU 091/052 093/052 094/054 096/054 094 20000000000
WEY BB 046/088 046/084 046 16233
    BUUUU 085/045 087/045 088/047 090/047 088 211-0000000
DLN BB 060/094 057/089 054 16133
    BUUUU 090/053 092/053 093/055 095/055 093 2---0000000
HVR UU 061/099 058/090 056 16001
    UUUUU 090/057 093/055 094/057 092/057 090 00000000000
LWT BB 060/095 055/089 054 16012
    BUUUU 084/055 086/053 087/055 088/055 086 00000000000

.TFX...RED FLAG WARNING THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR THE ROCKY
       MOUNTAIN FRONT AND ADJACENT PLAINS (FIRE WEATHER ZONES
       112 AND 114).

MTZ008>015-044>055-241210-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
1000 AM MDT WED JUL 23 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A RED FLAG WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WITH
GUSTY WINDS AND VERY HIGH FIRE DANGER ALONG THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT
AND ADJACENT PLAINS. PLEASE REFER TO GTFRFWTFX FOR FURTHER DETAILS.
HOT TEMPERATURES AND DRY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA
TODAY AFFECTING THOSE WORKING OUTDOORS AS WELL AS OUTDOOR
ENTHUSIASTS. THE HOT AND DRY CONDITIONS WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO A
HIGH FIRE DANGER.

NO WATCHES, WARNINGS, OR ADVISORIES CURRENTLY IN EFFECT

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

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