THROUGH MONDAY: Elevated fire weather concerns, especially along the Montana-Wyoming border around Belfry, Beartooth Canyon, and Alzada, plus down into Sheridan, Wyoming. The western foothills get extra attention with breezy con ditions continuing late Sunday into Monday. Places like Livingston and Big Timber could see gusty west winds mixing down from above as energy approaches from the west.A cold front finally arrives Monday evening around 6 PM around Bilings, keeping fire risk higher through Monday.The front brings relief by Monday night as temperatures drop quickly and humidity values recover overnight.MONDAY NIGHT: The cold front's passage during the evening evening shifts winds to the northwest with a period of stronger gusts. These northwest winds funneling through the Little Belt and Snowy mountains could produce isolated gusts up to 50 mph in Wheatland (Harlowton) County.Behind the front, scattered rain and snow showers develop Monday night into Tuesday morning. Don't expect major accumulations from this system as it lacks a good moisture connection and moves into very dry air that needs time to saturate before precipitation reaches the ground. Most locations might not even pick up a tenth of an inch.TUESDAY: Tuesday morning could bring a trace of snow west and south of Miles City as temperatures cool enough to support snow. Northeast-facing slopes around Red Lodge and Story might see brief upslope snow.MIDWEEK: Wednesday and Thursday offer a brief respite and warmup between weather systems as the early week energy moves out and conditions temporarily stabilize across the region.LATE WEEK: There is the potential for a significant spring storm, but computer models are showing major disagreements about how this will unfold. The key question is whether a deep trough digs south or if we see a split flow pattern with a cutoff low developing.If the deeper trough solution wins out, this could be a very beneficial precipitation event for the entire area, potentially providing a significant boost to our late-season snowpack. If the more northern track occurs, we'll still see precipitation but far less impactful amounts.The early week system needs to clear out before models can get a better handle on this potentially significant late-week storm. Check back in a day or two for better clarity as model agreement should improve. ...read more read less