Livingston, Montana 7 Day Weather Forecast

Wx Forecast - Wx Discussion - Wx Aviation

721
FXUS65 KBYZ 041010
AFDBYZ

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Billings MT
410 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.

&&

.UPDATE...
Surface cold front is surging thru our cwa, and as of 0930z winds
have shifted to easterly as far west as Springdale. Post-frontal
gusts have been modest, mostly 15-25 mph, but there is a gust to
34 mph at Angela (NW of Miles City) where 850mb cold advection is
greatest. Band of precip continues to sag southward but is not
quite to our area yet. Precip to our north has matched up well
with mid level frontogenesis but as expected, the fg is becoming
more broken as it moves southward. That said, fully expect
scattered showers to move NNE to SSW into southeast MT early this
morning. Have adjusted pops/wx for a slower arrival time, but am
not ready to raise pops to likely quite yet. Precip will not reach
our SW foothills until this afternoon, and it isn`t until this
evening that snow levels will fall enough for a mix with or
changeover to wet snow along the foothills, i.e. Red Lodge. High
res models continue to show a period of upslope precip along the
immediate Beartooth Foothills this evening. Moisture won`t be deep
but it may extend into the dendritic layer. Models are in
disagreement here but this will need to be watched for potential
minor snow accumulation along the foothills tonight. Either way,
greater potential for snow showers over all mountains and
foothills will be Tuesday as a secondary wave drops out of Canada,
with its PV lobe further west thru south central MT being more
supportive of precip, and snow levels by tomorrow will clearly be
low enough for snow showers above 4500 feet. Have bumped up
QPF/snow slightly. Billings may even see a few non-accumulating
light snow showers. JKL

&&

.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...
Updated 10z.
Brisk N-NE winds with gusts of 20-30 knots will impact the region
today, courtesy of an early morning Canadian cold frontal passage.
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. No chance of
thunder today. JKL

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS...

    Tdy Tue     Wed     Thu     Fri     Sat     Sun
-------------------------------------------------------
BIL 057 036/052 031/063 044/068 045/072 049/068 045/073
    4/W 24/W    10/U    17/T    31/B    24/T    21/B
LVM 057 032/048 026/063 044/069 042/071 044/065 042/071
    3/W 25/W    30/U    17/T    21/B    23/T    21/B
HDN 059 033/053 027/062 039/068 041/071 046/069 042/073
    4/W 25/W    01/U    16/T    42/T    35/T    32/T
MLS 058 032/050 027/057 035/065 041/070 046/070 044/072
    4/W 12/W    00/U    02/W    21/B    33/W    21/B
4BQ 057 032/048 026/055 035/065 041/067 044/067 044/070
    5/W 12/W    00/U    03/W    31/B    24/T    31/B
BHK 054 027/045 023/054 029/063 036/067 040/066 039/068
    5/W 12/J    00/U    01/B    21/B    22/W    21/B
SHR 054 032/048 023/055 034/064 038/067 041/061 039/068
    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