TONIGHT: Strong winds are already making their presence felt across the western foothills tonight. Near Livingston, a powerful pressure difference is driving gusts likely exceeding 60 mph. Big Timber and the Crazy Mountain footh ills have a 60% chance of gusts topping 50 mph.The Red Lodge foothills could see gusts in the 50-60 mph range, while areas near Sheridan are in the 40-50 mph zone. Bottom line: if you're in the foothills tonight, expect rough, potentially dangerous wind.MONDAY INTO TUESDAY MORNING: The strong winds stick around through Tuesday morning before a cold front crashes the party. This front ushers in precipitation chances for most of the region, ranging from about 50% in eastern spots like Miles City and Baker, up to 90% in the mountains.Expect a mix of rain and snow at lower elevations, while anything above 6,000 feet gets all snow.TUESDAY: Tuesday starts mostly snowy before transitioning to rain and a rain/snow mix through the day. Warm temperatures keep most lower elevation spots at less than a 20% chance of picking up more than an inch of snow.Foothills locations have a 20-60% chance of accumulating snowfall. Up in the Beartooth-Absaroka and Crazy Mountains, heavy snow is expected with a 60-100% chance of 12 or more inches.WEDNESDAY: A secondary surge of moisture rolls in early Wednesday, potentially flipping precipitation back to snow for some areas. On top of that, the winds return with a powerful jet stream overhead, driving dangerous crosswinds across the region.Gusty winds also spread out onto the plains Wednesday, so this isn't just a mountain and foothill concern. It's a rough day across the board.WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY: Strong winds are expected to continue through the end of the work week as the powerful upper-level jet stream parks itself over the region.FRIDAY INTO THE WEEKEND: A clipper system could deliver a dose of colder air and bring another round of precipitation by Friday into Saturday. There is also the potential for overrunning snowfall as colder air pushes in. ...read more read less