569 FXUS65 KBYZ 310817 AAA AFDBYZ Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Billings MT 117 AM MST Wed Dec 31 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Gusty winds (35 to 55 mph) continue over the foothills west of Billings through early this morning, decreasing significantly this afternoon. Minor travel impacts due to crosswinds along I-90 around Livingston to Big Timber and US-191 from Big Timber to Harlowton. - Above normal temperatures and dry weather expected to continue into the weekend. - Periods of light snow look to return to the south and west slopes of the Absaroka-Beartooth Mountains Friday into early next week. && .DISCUSSION... Today through Tuesday... the only significant change to the forecast this morning was to cool temperatures a few degrees over the eastern half of the forecast area through Saturday, and increase foothills winds for this weekend. Area remains in between amplified ridging to the west and a deep trof across the eastern half of the country. This leaves the Northern Rockies under northwest flow and in between the warm and cool sectors of the weather pattern. As such the particular track of disturbances dropping southeast out of western Canada and into the eastern trof can displace cooler air into or out of eastern Montana. The latest models flatten out the northwest flow just a bit allowing the disturbances to shift a bit further westward into our area, pulling slightly cooler air and north/east surface winds into the area 3 times through Saturday (Today, Thursday, and early Saturday). As such have cooled temperatures 2 to 4 degrees today, and 4 to 8 degrees Thursday-Saturday from previous forecasts for areas east of Billings. Roundup to Billings to Sheridan will be right on the western edge of the north/east winds and could see fluctuating temperatures at times during this period, but have kept the NBM high temperatures along this line and west. The very shallow nature of the cooler air intruding into the area along with subsidence aloft should keep dry conditions over the lower elevations with stratus/nighttime fog being the main weather impact (along with cooler temperatures) behind the frontal boundary. For today, Billings will be close to the record high of 53 degrees (50 fcst). Latest forecast keeps the rest of the climate sites well below record threatening temperatures so removed mention from other locations. Foothills winds will respond to the fronts/upper disturbances moving through the area. Wind gusts in the 40 to 50+ mph range will continue this morning for the Livingston/Nye/Big Timber/Harlowton vicinities, diminishing through the day as rising pressures east of the divide weaken the pressure gradient there. This pattern reverses tonight ahead of Thursdays system, bringing additional gusty winds back into the foothills through Thursday morning. Friday and Saturday will see weaker 15 to 30 mph wind gusts with higher pressure stabilizing east of the divide for a couple of days. Better chances (40-60%) for 50+ mph gusts return to the foothills Saturday night through early next week. Mid-level moisture advection arrives over the southwest mountains Friday and continues into early next week. Fairly consistent 20-50% chances for light snow are in the forecast for south/west facing mountain slopes through this period, though current projections keep precipitation amounts light (0.1-0.2in/day). This moisture fetch won't put any significant moisture down the east side of the divide, just increase cloud cover during the later half of the forecast. The New Years Eve forecast looks dry and unseasonably warm, with breezy conditions over the western half of the forecast area. Chambers .AVIATION... Wind gusts of 30-45kts will persist over for KLVM, K6S0 and K3HT through the night, slightly decreasing tomorrow afternoon. There is a low chance (~10% chance) of some low stratus getting into east central MT (KBHK, KMLS) mid day today, but confidence is low at this time. TS && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS... Tdy Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue ------------------------------------------------------- BIL 050 033/045 031/049 035/055 035/054 032/052 031/049 0/U 00/B 00/E 00/B 01/B 11/B 11/B LVM 050 032/043 034/046 036/053 034/049 031/047 029/045 0/N 00/N 10/E 00/N 11/N 12/O 11/B HDN 045 026/042 027/046 029/053 031/052 028/049 026/046 0/U 00/B 01/E 00/B 01/B 11/B 11/B MLS 038 022/036 020/036 024/043 028/050 027/045 026/042 0/U 00/B 00/E 00/B 00/B 10/B 11/B 4BQ 045 027/043 027/044 030/051 031/052 029/049 028/045 0/U 00/B 00/E 00/B 00/B 10/B 11/B BHK 033 018/034 016/035 022/044 025/049 025/045 021/041 0/U 00/U 00/E 00/B 00/B 10/B 11/B SHR 049 027/046 029/048 029/053 029/052 027/051 026/047 0/U 00/B 00/E 00/B 00/B 11/B 11/B && .BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MT...None. WY...None. && $$ weather.gov/billings