Marine Weather and Tide Forecast for Finley Point, MT

FXUS65 KMSO 121836 AFDMSO

Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Missoula MT 1236 PM MDT Mon Oct 12 2026

DISCUSSION

KEY MESSAGES:

- Hard freeze coming for the mornings.

- Valley fog and stratus will be common early this week.

- A warming and drying trend this week.

- Unsettled weather on the way for early next week.

Satellite imagery early this afternoon indicates a closed circulation of low pressure over eastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho. This system, responsible for sending Pacific moisture northwards into southwest Montana and north-central Idaho, will take a more southern route going into Tuesday. It will take precipitation with it, leaving a positively tilted ridge of high pressure over the Northern Rockies. That ridge will strengthen throughout the week, bringing daytime temperatures up.
Temperatures will peak on Saturday at about 10 degrees above normal.

In the meantime, expect cold mornings with hard freezes likely in the valleys of western Montana and much of north-central Idaho.
Those in the lower valleys of the Salmon and Clearwater rivers should still expect freezing temperatures, though only a few degrees off the freezing mark. Valley fog will be another hallmark of the ridge-following-snow scenario. Morning motorists and aviators should expect fog formation in the valleys.

Ensembles are starting to agree on another low pressure system by early next week. Though most solutions are on board with a disturbance, some members bring the low south, some keep it as an open wave, and some show a closed low. At the current time horizon, we'll let the reader chose their own adventure.
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