Helena Valley West Central, MT 7 Day Weather Forecast

Wx Forecast - Wx Discussion - Wx Aviation

941
FXUS65 KTFX 230213
AFDTFX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Great Falls MT
713 PM MST Sun Feb 22 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

 - Warmer temperatures continue to work into the region tonight and
   into the day Monday as winds increase.

 - Periods of mountain snow this week, mostly along the Continental
   Divide.

 - The vast majority of the week looks at least breezy, with the
   latter half of the week bringing strong winds to most areas at
   times.

&&

.UPDATE...

Winds along the Rocky Mountain Front should begin to pick up
later this evening as stronger winds aloft begin to move in.
Clearer skies across the North-Central MT plains overnight, will
bring another low end risk for patchy fog. Another night of colder
temperatures for the North-Central MT plains overnight before
better chinook winds mixes down Monday morning. -Wilson

&&

.DISCUSSION...
/Issued 428 PM MST Sun Feb 22 2026/

 - Meteorological Overview:

Upper level ridging will keep the remainder of the afternoon and
evening on the benign side across the region. Warmer temperatures
will continue to make inroads across the plains into Monday as
increasingly stronger zonal flow aloft will help to develop at least
a weak pressure gradient. The risk for localized drifting snow will
persist in areas adjacent to the Rocky Mountain Front later tonight
into early Monday, but confidence in widespread impacts remains on
the lower side.

Winds Monday largely appear to be diurnally driven, which will focus
the timeframe for the strongest winds to the afternoon hours.
Regardless of whether winds become strong or not, they will result
in temperatures that rise well above average. These milder
temperatures largely look to persist through the week.

Pacific moisture streaming through the zonal flow will result in a
few periods of snow along the Continental Divide this week. The
first period of snow that looks more impactful arrives early during
the day Monday, lasting into Tuesday, primarily impacting areas
north of Lincoln - including Marias Pass. A rather potent wave then
arrives Tuesday night, which will help propel a Pacific front across
the region. A band of snow is increasing in likelihood with the
Pacific front late Tuesday night into early Wednesday, mostly across
Southwest Montana. Should this timing trend any later, there would
be impacts to the morning commute across much of Southwest Montana
Wednesday.

Potent zonal flow develops behind the Pacific front and persists
through Friday across the Northern Rockies, which will result in an
extended timeframe of stronger winds, some of which will be higher-
end. As mentioned prior, this zonal flow will result in additional
snow along the Continental Divide over this timeframe, mainly north
of Lincoln.

Confidence in specifics wane Friday night toward the weekend, but it
does appear that at least a weaker Canadian cold front will drop
south across the region under a west-northwest flow aloft. The more
benign scenario involves minor cooling below freezing with some
light snow over the plains, while a more aggressive scenario would
send a stronger cold front through into Southwest Montana with much
colder temperatures and more notable lower elevation snow. -AM

 - Forecast Confidence & Scenarios:

Blowing snow late tonight and early Monday:

Confidence remains on the lower side that the winds that develop
will be sufficient to blow around any of the existing snowpack along
the Rocky Mountain Front, adjacent plains, or across portions of the
highway 200 corridor early Monday. Should confidence increase in
impacts from blowing/drifting snow occurring, a short-term Winter
Weather Advisory would be necessary. Temperatures quickly rise well
above freezing into the day Monday which will rapidly decrease the
risk for any blowing or drifting of snow.

Winds Monday:

Winds Monday will be almost exclusively driven by diurnal mixing, as
the pressure west and south of the Continental Divide isn`t
particularly high compared to the pressure across the forecast area.
Winds in the mid level do look potent out of the west to southwest,
on the order of 50 kts or so at times. The main question is if the
diurnal mixing will be strong enough to tap into these strongest
winds aloft. At this point BUFKIT soundings are quite split, with
some mixing just enough to realize these higher end winds/gusts,
while others are much less optimistic. Areas around Cut Bank look to
see the greatest probability of realizing these higher end gusts, but
it is not necessarily a slam dunk. With that in mind there are no
upgrades being made at this time, though some adjustments in timing
to the High Wind Watches have been made.

Snow Along the Continental Divide This Week:

Most snow this week looks to be confined to areas north of Lincoln
along the Rocky Mountain Front. A few Winter Weather Advisories are
the most likely scenario for the more intense periods of snow. An
initial Winter Weather Advisory for Marias Pass has been issued from
Monday through early Tuesday morning.

Pacific Front and potential for snow squalls late Tuesday Night:

As the Pacific front moves across the region late Tuesday night into
Wednesday morning, a band of snow looks to develop with it across
Southwest Montana. Rapid transitions from little to no snow to
briefly heavy snow with some wind is increasing in likelihood late
Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning. Should this trend a bit
slower, greater impact to the Wednesday morning commute across
Southwest Montana would occur. Trends for this timeframe will be
monitored closely.

Wind behind the Pacific Front Wednesday through Friday:

Ensemble guidance and anomaly indicators show high confidence in a
period of strong winds Wednesday through Friday. As an example of
confidence in stronger winds, the probability for an 80 mph gust in
Browning Thursday is between 50 and 60%. Further east in Cut Bank
that probability is roughly 30% on the same day. -AM


&&

.AVIATION...
23/00Z TAF Period

VFR conditions will prevail throughout the duration of the
2300/2400 TAF period under passing mid- to upper level cloudiness.
Mountain obscuration, most notably along the Continental Divide,
will begin to occur beyond 06-09z Monday as Pacific moisture
begins to advect eastward, with mountain snow developing along the
Rocky Mountain Front over this same timeframe. Gusty southwest to
west winds begin to develop beyond 15z Monday across most
terminals, with the KCTB and KGTF terminals seeing frequent wind
gusts in excess of 34 kts. - Moldan

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
GTF  12  53  33  50 /   0  20  30  20
CTB   5  49  26  45 /   0  20  10  10
HLN  23  52  33  49 /   0  20  50  50
BZN  22  52  32  49 /   0  10  30  50
WYS   8  39  24  36 /   0   0  40  90
DLN  22  50  32  50 /   0   0  20  30
HVR   2  50  22  43 /   0  10  20  10
LWT  26  49  30  43 /   0  10  40  40

&&

.TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Winter Weather Advisory from 5 AM Monday to 5 AM MST Tuesday for
East Glacier Park Region.

High Wind Watch from Monday morning through Monday evening for
East Glacier Park Region-Eastern Glacier, Western Toole, and
Central Pondera-Northern High Plains-Southern High Plains.

High Wind Watch from Monday morning through Monday evening for
Cascade County below 5000ft-Judith Basin County and Judith Gap.

&&

$$
http://www.weather.gov/greatfalls