BILLINGS – At least the early part of Tuesday has turned out to be beautiful across Billings and much of south-central Montana.
The early afternoon temperature is 73 degrees, and look at how green the grass and trees are, no doubt from all the recent heavy rains.
Those rains are forecast to return later Tuesday and Wednesday.
In fact, our thunderstorm outlook suggests a marginal risk of severe storms in south-central Montana including Billings.
The Doppler radar shows showers are already starting to fire up around the Beartooth and Crazy mountains.
It is merely a matter of time before they move into Billings and the rest of south-central Montana.
And because of that the Weather Service has issued a flood watch for much of south-central Montana and north-central Wyoming, due to forecast widespread heavy rains and rapid snow melt.
The Clark Fork of the Yellowstone River at Edgar is currently below flood stage but forecast to be above flood stage on Thursday.
The Musselshell River at Shawmut and Lavina are both above flood stage and forecast to go higher. Meanwhile, out in the West, flooding remains an issue.
Our high resolution forecast model shows heavy showers and thunderstorms could be moving in later Tuesday evening and again in the morning, and off and on throughout Wednesday.
BILLINGS FORECAST
Tonight: Mostly cloudy with a 70 percent chance for showers and thunderstorms this evening and overnight. Some of the storms may produce heavy rainfall. Northeast winds 5 to 15 mph. Low 55 degrees.
Wednesday: Mostly cloudy with a 90 percent chance for showers and a slight chance for thunderstorms in the morning with more thunderstorms possible in the afternoon. Northwest winds 5 to 15 mph. High 68 degrees.
Thursday: Partly sunny with a 20 percent chance for showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon and warmer. West winds 5 to 15 mph. High 82 degrees.
