FXUS65 KBYZ 040631 AFDBYZ Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Billings MT 1231 AM MDT Mon May 4 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Cold front brings cooler temperatures, breezy north winds and scattered showers today. - Cool temperatures continue through Tuesday (highs upper 40s to mid 50s). Low temperatures tonight and Tuesday night in the upper 20s to middle 30s. - Light snow accumulations in the mountains through Tuesday. Rain/snow mix possible (moderate chance) over the foothills and higher hills tonight into Tuesday. && .DISCUSSION... Through Sunday... A cold front will drop through the region overnight into this morning ushering in cooler conditions, brisk north winds and scattered showers (25-60% chance) to the area today. High temperatures will top out in the upper 40s to 50s, with northerly wind gusts of 20 to 35 mph common post-frontal today. Showers will decrease into this evening for most areas, before increasing again heading into Tuesday, especially for the southern mountains and foothills (40-75% chance) as embedded waves drop through the area in cyclonic flow. With cooler temperatures in place, snow may mix in with the showers on Tuesday across the lower elevations, though any accumulations look to remain limited to the mountains and immediate foothills. Liquid precipitation amounts through Tuesday look to range from a few hundredths over the plains, to a quarter to as much as a half inch in favored northerly upslope areas in the mountains. A general 1 to 5 inches of snow is expected in the mountains, highest across the northerly upslope areas, with locally higher totals possible. Light snow amounts are possible into the immediate foothills, though the probability for exceeding an inch is only near 30%. With low temperatures dropping into the upper 20s and middle 30s tonight and Tuesday night, protect sensitive vegetation. Confidence is highest with low temperatures dropping below freezing (60-90%) Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Ridging is progged to build over the West Coast Wednesday and Thursday placing our region under NW flow. Ensembles continue to hint at a weak shortwave within that flow tracking over us Thursday bringing a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Probability of exceeding 0.10 inches of precipitation ranges from 30-60% for areas along and west of a Roundup to Billings to Sheridan line, with areas to the east 15-30%. Ridging is brief on Friday, as ensembles have continued with the trend of a PAC NW trough developing and moving into the northern rockies Friday night into Saturday. The strength and timing of this wave will need monitoring, but has potential to bring increased precipitation chances into the weekend. Temperatures look to range from the 50s to lower 60s Wednesday, the 60s on Thursday, and the 60s to lower 70s Friday into the weekend. Overnight lows in the upper 30s to 40s will be common most nights. STP .AVIATION... An approaching Canadian cold front will bring a shift to brisk northerly winds across the region between 06-12z this morning. Expect gusts of 20-30 knots. Breezy winds will continue through the day. Behind the front will come increasing chances of mainly light showers and areas of MVFR flight conditions today and tonight. Mountains will become obscured in snow/rain showers. JKL && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS... Tdy Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun ------------------------------------------------------- BIL 057 036/053 031/063 044/068 045/072 049/068 045/073 5/W 24/W 10/U 17/T 31/B 24/T 21/B LVM 056 032/051 026/063 044/069 042/071 044/065 042/071 3/W 25/W 30/U 17/T 21/B 23/T 21/B HDN 058 033/053 027/062 039/068 041/071 046/069 042/073 6/W 25/W 01/U 16/T 42/T 35/T 32/TMLS 057 032/050 027/057 035/065 041/070 046/070 044/072 3/W 12/W 00/U 02/W 21/B 33/W 21/B 4BQ 057 032/049 026/055 035/065 041/067 044/067 044/070 4/W 12/W 00/U 03/W 31/B 24/T 31/B BHK 054 027/046 023/054 029/063 036/067 040/066 039/068 5/W 12/J 00/U 01/B 21/B 22/W 21/B SHR 053 029/048 023/055 034/064 038/067 041/061 039/068 5/W 36/W 21/U 06/T 42/T 35/T 32/T && .BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MT...None. WY...None. && $$ weather.gov/billings