BILLINGS — Many parts of southern Montana and northern Wyoming tied or broke high temperature records on Friday ahead of our incoming storm. The wind, which helped warm our highs, continues to blow and increase our fire danger. Red Flag Warnings will continue through Friday evening. We'll have a mix of clouds and a little clear sky with continued breezes late tonight and early Saturday, but lows won't fall too far.
The weather of the northern Rockies will change rapidly over the weekend. Our incoming cold front and trough of low pressure will bring much cooler air, to Montana and Wyoming, and we'll have chances for rain showers and isolated thunderstorms on Saturday. Colder air will begin changing that rain over to snow late Saturday and early Sunday, and it will soon feel more like winter than autumn for many in Montana and Wyoming.
Winter Weather Advisories will be in effect for lower elevations in much of western and central Montana, along with Winter Storm Warnings for mainly the mountains from Saturday evening through Monday morning. The mountains will receive over one foot of snow, Butte and Helena can expect 3-8" of snow, and southwest valleys will likely receive 2-5". Eastern Montana lower elevations can expect a mix of rain and snow at times.
The cold air will cause highs to plummet over the next 48 hours. Many areas had highs in the 80s on Friday, temperatures will be dropping much of the day on Saturday, and by Sunday most areas will struggle to have highs in the 30s and lower to mid 40s. After lingering rain and snow Monday, we will have decreasing clouds next Tuesday, and our weather will get quieter and slowly begin to warm up the latter half of next week. Stay safe!
