000 FXUS65 KMSO 062110 AFDMSO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 210 PM MST SUN MAR 6 2005 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...THE EVER PRESENT RIDGE WILL CONTINUE OVER THE AREA AGAIN TONIGHT. A WEAK SHORTWAVE WILL BEGIN TO PUSH THROUGH THE RIDGE MONDAY MORNING. INCREASED CLOUD COVER ...COOLER TEMPERATURES AND A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION ACCOMPANY THIS SHORTWAVE. PRECIPITATION WILL BE MAINLY IN THE MOUNTAINS...BUT COULD MOVE OVER THE VALLEYS AS THERE IS FAIRLY STRONG WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT. THE SHORTWAVE MOVES EAST TUESDAY MORNING...BUT WITH SOME LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE AVAILABLE AND CONTINUED WESTERLY FLOW LIGHT SHOWERS COULD BE POSSIBLE ALONG THE DIVIDE TUESDAY MORNING. YET ANOTHER RIDGE REBUILDS OVER THE AREA TUESDAY AFTERNOON...AGAIN WARMING TEMPERATURES AND CUTTING OFF PRECIPITATION. .LONG TERM...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY...HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE DOMINATE FEATURE FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. THE REGION WILL BE UNDER NORTHWEST FLOW WHICH WILL CAUSE SOME CLOUDS TO LINGER...DUE TO UPPER LEVEL MOISTURE STREAMING THROUGH. THERE ARE SOME DISCREPANCIES IN THE MODELS ON THE TIMING OF THE NEXT SHORTWAVE. THE GFS BRINGS THIS FEATURE IN ON WEDNESDAY... WHILE THE ETA/NAM SLOWING IT TO WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THE GFS HAS BEEN CONSISTENT THAT THIS SYSTEM WILL BE IN ON WEDNESDAY. THERE IS SOME CONCERN ABOUT THE NEXT FEATURE COMING IN OVER THE WEEKEND. THE GFS BRINGS IN A STRONG SHORTWAVE THAT WILL TRANSITION THE REGION INTO A TROUGH PATTERN BY SUNDAY...WHILE THE ECMWF DOES BRING IN A SIMILAR FEATURE BUT RETURNS TO NORTHWESTERLY FLOW. AT THIS TIME MADE NO CHANGES...WAITING TO SEE IF THERE IS ANY CONSISTENCY WITH THE MODELS. HIGH TEMPERATURES DURING THE WEEK APPEAR TO STAY ABOVE NORMAL...WHILE MIN TEMPERATURES CONTINUE TO BE NEAR NORMAL. && .MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MT...NONE. ID...NONE. && $$ SHORT TERM/ADAIR/MSJ LONG TERM/SMITH weather.gov/missoula