BILLINGS — The sun is out and the temps are beginning to warm up Wednesday in Billings and for the rest of south-central Montana.
The temperature at 1:30 p.m. was at 20 degrees with mostly sunny skies and a southwest wind at 20 mph, which gives us a windchill factor of 4 degrees above zero. So it's a little on the chilly side outside.
And speaking of chilly, as you open up the record books, you should see a lot of subzero temperatures. Butte was 23 below zero, for the record.
However, our actual reported temperatures Wednesday morning set some records as well: Missoula, Bozeman, Dillon and Worland, Wyo., all had new record lows this morning.
However, our current temperatures have warmed up into the teens and 20s and up in the northeast corner of the state. We are in the 30s already.
The Doppler radar and satellite imagery shows dry skies and only a northerly flow of air from Canada, which is exactly where our next system is coming from.
As we check it out on the high-resolution forecast model, high pressure will continue to dominate our weather pattern Wednesday. But as that drops farther south into Wyoming.
This allows a new cold front to drop down from Canada Thursday morning.
And by 6 p.m. Thursday, that whole cold front drops clean through the state. For the trick-or-treaters in the Billings area and the rest of the Yellowstone Valley, we are expecting mainly rain showers but snow outside the urban areas of Montana.
Then overnight Thursday into Friday morning, the rain will change to snow in south-central Montana and Billings can get a little dusting.
Snowfall amounts for Billings are expected to be light. But Bozeman and Livingston could see some measurable snow out of it, anywhere from 1 to 4 inches.
Our temperatures for the next 24 hours are expected to stay fairly flat, mostly into the 20s, but jump up into the low 30s by Thursday afternoon.
Eventually, the temperatures will top out into the upper 40s on Sunday, then roll back to the 30s on Monday afternoon.
BILLINGS FORECAST
TONIGHT: Increasing clouds and warmer. Southwest winds 10 to 20 mph. Low 21 degrees.
THURSDAY: Partly sunny with a 20% chance for rain in the afternoon changing to a 30% chance for snow in the evening. West winds 10 to 20 mph. High 41 degrees.
FRIDAY: Mostly sunny and continued mild. West winds 10 to 20 mph. High 41 degrees.
