BILLINGS — Billings wound up with about one inch of new snow overnight Tuesday. You can see most of it on the roof tops in downtown Billings.
However, you can also see a few sun breaks in the cloud cover, which shows promise for warming temperatures.
As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, it was 20 degrees in Billings. There is still light snow falling in the area too.
Around the rest of the state, the temps out west are mostly into the 30s and 40s. Meanwhile, back east of the Divide, we are mostly to the teens and 20s.
This is because that's where all the Arctic air is still lingering.
You can see how the jet stream is pushed right up against the mountains east of the Divide. That is where the Arctic air is, as well as whatever left over snowfall we have.
The high-resolution forecast model shows high pressure will continue to push most of that snow into northern Wyoming, a little farther south into that state, allowing sunny skies to move in later this afternoon and clearing skies overnight.
And yes, that is a warm front sweeping across the state on Thursday afternoon, with mostly sunny skies and temperatures getting back up into the 40s.
We are expecting these warmer temperatures and sunny skies to extend into Friday and Saturday.
However, for the rest of Wednesday, temps will stay mostly to the 20s, then bounce back up into the 40s by about 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
We will top out in the 40s on Thursday and then jump up to 56 degrees on Friday and Saturday and back to the 20s with a new cold front on Sunday and Monday.
BILLINGS FORECAST
TONIGHT: Mostly clear. And cold. South winds 10 to 20 mph with wind chills as low as five below zero. Low 17 degrees.
THURSDAY: Mostly sunny, breezy and warmer. Southwest winds 15 to 25 mph. High 43 degrees.
FRIDAY: Mostly sunny and warmer. Southwest winds 10 to 20 mph. High 56 degrees.
