BILLINGS — Much warmer than average conditions continue on Wednesday with highs mainly in the 60s under mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies. High clouds will start to move in ahead of our next weather system that will bring precipitation Wednesday night through Friday. More on that in a moment.
Strong southwest gap flow winds will impact areas from Livingston to Nye through at least early Wednesday afternoon with gusts of 45–55 mph possible.
A cold front is expected to arrive by late Wednesday evening, bringing cooler temperatures with daytime highs in the 40s and 50s Thursday and Friday. An associated split Pacific trough will bring a chance of lower elevation rain and mountain snow through Friday, but there is some uncertainty on how much, depending on how the system evolves.
As of now, there is potential for 6–10 inches in area mountains, with the highest accumulation across north-northwest-facing slopes. Accumulating wet snow between 1–4 inches is possible along foothill areas, including Red Lodge and Story. If the system becomes a bit more organized, several more inches will be possible.
While rain (between a tenth to a quarter of an inch) is the most likely precipitation type in the lower elevations, Billings could get a little wet snow Thursday night into early Friday, but surface temps should be too warm for any accumulation except for the higher hills to the south. Depending on the evolution of the system, parts of southeast MT could also get some wet snow.
High pressure moves in on Saturday, bringing warm and dry weather, with highs back into the 60s by Sunday. Strong foothills winds with gusts over 60+ mph are expected across the weekend from Livingston to Big Timber to Harlowton, while other locations could feel gusts up to 50 mph, including Billings. Peak winds are on tap from Sunday into early Monday.
Some models continue to suggest another system will move in early next week, bringing more rain and snow along with much cooler temperatures, but there is a lot of uncertainty on this at the moment.
Miller Robson
Q2 Morning Meteorologist
miller.robson@ktvq.com
