Otter, Montana Weather Forecast Discussion

406
FXUS65 KBYZ 161830
AFDBYZ
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Billings MT
1230 PM MDT Tue Sep 16 2025
.KEY MESSAGES...
- Risk Level 1 of 4 for excessive rainfall for locations west of
  Billings today. Localized flooding possible.
- The best precipitation chances shift east of Billings Wednesday
  with a 30 to 60 percent chance for rainfall of 0.25 inches or
  more south of a Sheridan to Baker line.
- Light snow accumulations expected over the Beartooth Mountains
  above 10kft through Wednesday morning. This snowfall may impact
  travel over the highest elevations of the Beartooth Highway.
- Becoming drier with seasonal temperatures for the end of the
  work week, with above normal temperatures for the weekend.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
A 500 mb trough will continue to drop through the region tonight.
Precipitation west of Billings today will begin to shift to
locations east of Billings overnight. As the band of precipitation
begins to move off to the east, conditions will become less
favorable for high elevation snow over the Beartooth Highway. With
many locations in the Beartooth/Absaroka mountains and surrounding
foothills having received over an inch of rainfall over the last
24 hours, and these same locations having high chances (40-70%)
for an additional 0.5 inches, a Marginal Risk for excessive
rainfall has been issued for locations west of Billings. This
could lead to localized flooding.
Tomorrow, as the upper level low continues to move east, it will
spin up a surface low pressure system over the Central Plains.
This low will advect moisture into Eastern Montana bringing
precipitation chances (30-60%) for locations south and east of a
line from Red Lodge to Baker. Thursday, the low will drift into
the Northern Plains bringing lingering precipitation chances
(20%) for locations near the Dakotas border. Precipitation
throughout the next few days will be showers and general
thunderstorms. 6 PM tonight to 6 PM Thursday, locations in Carter
County will have the highest chances (20-50%) for getting greater
than 0.5 inches of rain with 

NWS BYZ Office Area Forecast Discussion