Hardin, Montana 7 Day Weather Forecast

Wx Forecast - Wx Discussion - Wx Aviation

035
FXUS65 KBYZ 251840
AFDBYZ

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Billings MT
1240 PM MDT Sat Apr 25 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Weather system brings rain and wet snow Sunday/Monday; some snow
  accumulation possible at lower elevations and several inches of
  snow over the mountains. Monitor the forecast if you have travel
  or outdoor plans.

- Unsettled weather with below normal temps continues through
  midweek.

&&

.DISCUSSION...

Today through Saturday...

Parent upper low is nearly stationary over SK while cyclonic flow
with below normal heights remains over the northern Rockies. Weak
warm advection is bringing some light overrunning snow/flurries to
parts of the area this morning. Into the afternoon & early
evening, some diurnal instability should enhance the snow showers
somewhat over the mountains/foothills...but any accumulations will
remain light.

Looking upstream, there is a distinct shortwave off the coast of
central CA. This feature will eject into the great basin tonight,
approach CO/WY Sunday, and lift into the northern plains
thereafter. At the same time, a positively tilted trof over WA/ID
will remain to our west. This is important for a couple of
reasons. First, it allows cooler air and easterly winds to remain
in place the next two days. Second, the great basin wave will
partially phase w/ this trof and take a favorable track to bring
our region a period of ascent/precip (rain and wet snow) tomorrow
& Monday. There of course remains plenty of uncertainty in
details. Highest confidence for precip is over north aspects of
the Pryors and Bighorns, and across southeast MT. However,
depending on the track of the wave to our south and amount of
phasing, upslope precip may be favored at least for a short time
further west along north aspects of the Beartooths including at
Red Lodge. As the initial wave exits, we will still see ascent
with the western trof through Monday, with our region remaining
under the diffluent region of an upper level jet. So overall it is
a complicated picture and model trends need to be monitored.
Today`s forecast has trended a bit wetter and snowier. Look for a
5-10" snowfall over the southern mountains (50-70% chance of 6+
inches) and 1-4" for the adjacent foothills (30-60% chance of 2+
inches). Amounts of 0.5-2.0" are possible at lower elevations
north of the foothills including Billings...but this will again
depend on the track of the mid level forcing lifting from the
south. For Billings, the probability of an inch of snow or more is
about 50%. Temps the next two days will be chilly with highs in
the upper 30s and 40s.

Billings has not seen a measurable snowfall yet in April. An
April without measurable snow at Billings has happened only 8
times since records began in 1934, most recently in 1998.

System exits Monday night but we remain under an active cyclonic
NW flow through Tuesday and Wednesday, with a couple of additional
shortwaves and increased instability bringing additional periods
of showers/mountain snow each day, especially over the west and
south. Surface temps will warm to the 50s (still a bit cooler than
normal).

Thursday through Saturday is looking warmer and mostly dry due to
period of ridging and higher heights. Expect temps back to the
60s to near 70F. There may be enough energy and residual moisture
for a few showers over the high elevations. Also, a stronger wave
may emerge from the Pacific by Sunday, as there are currently no
indications that the pattern will stagnate.

JKL

.AVIATION...

In general, VFR will prevail through the period for most
locations. Snow showers along and over the mountains/foothills
will bring local MVFR/IFR conditions into the evening. Mountains
will be obscured at times. Brisk northwest surface winds east of
KBIL can be expected through the afternoon, with occasional gusts
25-30 kts at many locations. Winds will shift to the east and
northeast by 0z for many locations. Low stratus/fog may move into
southeastern areas overnight (20% chance) bringing local
reductions. Conditions will deteriorate over the region for the
second half of Sunday as a weather system lifts into the region
bringing increasing rain/snow chances. STP

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS...

    Sun     Mon     Tue     Wed     Thu     Fri     Sat
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 028/042 030/043 029/058 036/058 036/061 036/070 042/070
    17/W    86/O    24/W    24/W    11/B    01/U    12/W
LVM 021/041 025/045 027/055 032/056 033/059 033/067 039/067
    25/J    66/O    35/W    34/T    21/B    01/U    22/W
HDN 026/048 029/046 028/059 033/060 035/062 033/071 038/072
    17/W    97/O    35/W    24/W    11/B    01/U    12/W
MLS 027/048 030/045 029/056 032/057 033/060 034/069 039/069
    16/W    85/O    12/W    01/B    00/U    00/U    11/U
4BQ 028/049 030/043 029/053 032/057 033/057 032/067 039/069
    17/W    96/O    23/W    12/W    11/B    01/U    11/U
BHK 023/048 028/045 025/052 028/054 028/056 030/065 037/067
    06/W    84/S    12/W    01/B    01/U    00/U    11/U
SHR 023/046 027/042 025/052 028/054 030/056 029/065 035/067
    28/W    +7/O    47/W    25/T    23/W    11/U    12/W

&&

.BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...None.
WY...None.

&&

$$
weather.gov/billings