Soundings › Great Falls
Great Falls, MT weather balloon
Launch of 2026-10-28 00Z (evening launch, US time) · ground level 3,720 ft above sea level, 49°F at launch
What it means
Strong wind just above the ground: 39 mph near 3,300 ft
A fast river of air sits a few thousand feet up (a low-level jet). Once the sun heats the ground, some of it can mix down as gusts. Drones, cranes and tall structures feel it first, and at night it can feed storms.
Freezing level about 3,300 ft up
Rain stays rain at the ground. Hail has less warm air to melt in, so hail from strong storms can reach the ground bigger.
Wind at crane height: 26 mph from the SW
At about 260 ft the wind was 26 mph, against 21 mph at the ground. Wind at height is often much stronger than at the ground, especially at night and in the morning. Many outdoor aerial lifts are rated for winds up to 28 mph; crane limits depend on the crane and the load, so check its manual.
Little storm fuel
Air lifted from near the ground doesn't rise on its own, so thunderstorms are unlikely from this air (things can change by afternoon or as a front arrives).
0.37 inches of water in the air
Dry air. Rain is unlikely to amount to much; dry air also means bigger day-to-night temperature swings.
Temperature and moisture by height
Temperature Dew point Freezing (32°F)
Heights are above the ground. The closer the two lines, the more humid; where they touch, there's cloud.
Wind by height
| At the ground | SW 21 mph |
|---|---|
| About 260 ft (crane and lift height) | SW 26 mph |
| 1,000 ft | SW 29 mph |
| 3,000 ft | WSW 38 mph |
| 5,000 ft | W 35 mph |
| 10,000 ft | W 17 mph |
| 18,000 ft | WNW 24 mph |
| 30,000 ft | WSW 50 mph |
Direction is where the wind comes from.
- Storm fuel (CAPE)
- 4 J/kg
- Wind change, ground to 20,000 ft
- 17 mph
- Water in the air
- 0.37 in
- Freezing level
- 3,300 ft
About soundings
Balloons go up at about 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Central time (12Z and 00Z) and take about 2 hours to climb. The numbers show what the air was doing at launch, so they are a snapshot, not a forecast. Conditions change through the day, especially in the afternoon and when a front passes.
Wind at crane height is the measured wind about 260 ft (80 m) up. Storm fuel (CAPE) is how strongly a rising bubble of air would keep rising. Wind change with height (shear) helps storms last and turn severe. Water in the air (precipitable water) is how much rain the whole column would make if it all fell. Notes like these are a planning aid, not an official forecast or warning. For warnings, follow the National Weather Service.
Want this for a job? AtmosDays Plus and Pro show the HRRR model's hour-by-hour wind at crane height for each jobsite, for the next 2 days. See how it works.
Data: NOAA National Weather Service upper-air sounding, via Iowa State University's Iowa Environmental Mesonet. Explanations by AtmosDays; storm fuel is for the most unstable air in the lowest 10,000 ft or so.