BILLINGS — The region is under the influence of low pressure and an associated cold front and will continue to see scattered showers in the lower elevations and snow in the mountains on Wednesday. Precipitation will taper off from west to east during the day and into the evening as the system moves to the southeast. A few isolated thunderstorms will be possible.
Much of the western and south-central portions of the viewing area, along with northern Wyoming, will have the best chance of receiving about a tenth of an inch of rainfall with a few isolated spots pushing near a quarter of an inch. Area mountains above 6,000 feet could pick up 3–5 inches of snow, but the central Bighorns could get closer to 10 inches. This could lead to minor flooding in flood-prone areas along rising creeks and streams, ponding on roadways, and debris flow across area burn scars.
It will be cooler on Wednesday behind the cold front, with daytime highs in the mid-50s to low 60s.
Scattered showers and a few isolated thunderstorms will linger into Thursday over the eastern plains as high pressure and northerly flow begin to move in from the west. Most of the precipitation should be out of the area by the evening.
Warmer and dry weather will kick in on Friday and remain through early Sunday. Some models are projecting another cold front to move through by Sunday evening, bringing rain chances back into the forecast Sunday afternoon through Tuesday. There is still uncertainty about how this system will evolve and what track it will take, thus impacting temperatures and rainfall totals during that period. We'll need to monitor how the models handle it over the next few days.
Daytime highs will be in the 50s and 60s on Thursday, 60s and 70s on Friday, 70s and 80s over the weekend, then back to the 50s and 60s on Monday and Tuesday.
Nighttime lows will be in the 30s and 40s through Friday night, then in the 40s and 50s over the weekend, and back into the 40s on Monday night.
Miller Robson
Q2 Morning Meteorologist
miller.robson@ktvq.com
