BILLINGS – It was just a little over a week ago that this valley was covered with white snow, but today it has turned a very vibrant green especially along the Yellowstone River.
At 2 p.m., the temperature had already made its way into the low 60s in Billings. The Yellowstone River is high but still within its banks and is not expected to flood.
However, on the other side of the state at Missoula, the Clarks Fork River has just now gone back down to flood stage. It had been half a foot above flood stage on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, at Lewis and Clark County and all the way to Meagher County, small streams are still flooding, thanks to rain and rapid snow melt. The Ringling area is still flooded.
Meanwhile, at Glasgow the Milk River has crested and is now at 29.8 feet deep, flood stage is 25 feet, so it is still almost 5 feet out of its banks.
The Doppler radar in south-central Montana still shows a few widely scattered rain showers and a couple snowflakes up in the Beartooths.
Most of these are just splash and dash showers evaporating low level moisture due to the heat of the day.
As the water vapor rises to the next layer of air and cools down, it will condense into showers. And that’s what’s developing in Eastern Montana on Wednesday.
We are not expecting very much rain out of these splash-and-dash showers, and eventually the unsettled atmosphere they reside in will move south into Wyoming tomorrow.
After that, we expect mostly sunny skies throughout the day on Thursday on into Friday.
BILLINGS FORECAST
Tonight: Mostly clear and mild. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph this evening becoming Southwest 5 to 15 mph overnight. Low 42 degrees.
Thursday: Sunny, dry and warmer. West winds 10 to 20 mph. High 72 degrees.
Friday: Mostly sunny and warmer still. Southwest winds 10 to 20 mph. High 78 degrees.
