FXUS65 KTFX 192056 AFDTFX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Great Falls MT 256 PM MDT Fri Jul 19 2024 .SYNOPSIS... Above normal temperatures and dry conditions continue through the middle of next week. && .DISCUSSION... The overall hot and dry weather pattern continues with a large scale upper level ridge positioned over the interior west. Water vapor satellite imagery and numerical model analyses reveal a weak shortwave aloft drifting through Southeast Montana. Meanwhile, another weak wave is forecast to move through the top of the ridge, passing over the Canadian Rockies into Eastern Montana on a northerly flow on Saturday. Available moisture remains limited, so the only changes from this shortwave on Saturday will be a 10-20 percent chance of an isolated afternoon shower or thunderstorm, mainly focused over the Glacier Park, and Snowy Mountain (Lewistown)regions. Gusty winds and a couple lightning strikes would be the primary concern resulting from any such thunderstorm Saturday afternoon. A thermal trough in the surface pressure field over the interior west will help to create an easterly breeze over our region, noted only in the afternoon hours with deep layer mixing. -PN Sunday through Wednesday...ensemble clusters continue to favor strong upper level ridging residing over much of the Western CONUS, with longwave troughing over the Pacific Northwest and western seaboard of Canada. This upper level ridge will help maintain well above normal temperatures and overall dry conditions across Southwest through North Central Montana through the period. Thursday through next Friday...ensemble clusters favor the breakdown of the upper level ridge over the Northern Rockies as a longwave trough slides east from the western seaboard. Leading mode of uncertainty through the period will be the position and/or timing of the longwave trough, which will ultimately impact how long the above normal temperatures last across Southwest through North Central Montana. None-the-less, ensemble model guidance does support a brief and slight "cool down" towards the end of the work week as upper level heights fall, but this may only result in daytime highs reaching the mid- to upper 80s vs the preceding 90s to near 100 degrees. Additionally, as the ridge breaks down, expect southwest to west winds to increase. - Moldan && .AVIATION... 19/18Z TAF Period VFR conditions will prevail over the CWA through the period. An isolated thunderstorms is possible over the northern Rockies through this evening. Widespread smoke will reduce visibility for distant mountains/passes through the period, with visibility down to about 7SM at times. Brusda Equipment Note: Due to a failure of the KEKS AWOS, no amendments are scheduled until further notice. Refer to weather.gov/zlc for more detailed regional aviation weather and hazard information. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GTF 61 93 61 92 / 0 0 0 0 CTB 57 93 58 91 / 10 0 0 0 HLN 63 97 62 96 / 0 10 0 0 BZN 57 93 56 92 / 0 10 0 0 WYS 44 83 42 83 / 0 10 0 10 DLN 54 88 52 88 / 0 0 0 0 HVR 62 94 62 94 / 10 10 0 10 LWT 57 87 56 86 / 0 20 10 10 && .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ http://www.weather.gov/greatfalls