BILLINGS — Expect a mild and dry Thursday with daytime highs ranging mainly from the mid-50s to around 60° under sunny skies. Winds will be lighter than Wednesday, shifting to the northeast and east with gusts between 10 and 20 mph, peaking near Livingston. Overnight, another round of patchy fog may develop across south-central and eastern Montana before dissipating Friday morning.
Mild and generally dry conditions will persist into the start of the weekend. Friday will see winds pick up from the southeast across eastern Montana, while Saturday will bring lighter winds overall. Precipitation chances will gradually build over and near the mountains as moisture pushes inland from a low pressure system off the West Coast.
That system is forecast to move inland Sunday into Monday, bringing a chance of widespread precipitation- rain in the lower elevations and snow in the mountains. There is a decent chance of at least 0.10" of accumulating rainfall in the lower elevations, while area mountains could pick up over 6" of snow above 9,000 feet. Because temperatures across the plains will remain relatively mild, precipitation will fall mostly as rain, though brief overnight flurries cannot be ruled out across the higher hills. Winds during this period will generally gust between 20 and 40 mph, with a slight chance of isolated gusts reaching 50 mph.
Conditions dry out again heading into the middle of next week. However, a fast-moving cold front passing through late Tuesday into early Wednesday could bring a quick chance of light precipitation to the region.
Miller Robson
Q2 Morning Meteorologist
miller.robson@ktvq.com
