BILLINGS- The weather Monday the Billings area is not too bad. We have a combination of sun breaks and cloud cover, but fairly warm temperatures for this time year.
In fact, we are looking at pretty strong gusty winds on the eastern slopes of the divide from Great Falls down to Livingston and Billings.
We have a High Wind Watch for the Beartooth foothills for winds gusting to 65 and 75 miles per hour. That begins Tuesday evening and goes through Wednesday evening.
We also have a High Wind Watch for the Cody foothills for 65 to 75 mile-per-hour winds.
And there is a Winter Storm Watch for the Western part of the state that starts tomorrow morning and goes through Wednesday morning.
We could see anywhere from three to six inches of snow in the valleys up to 14 inches of snow in the higher elevations out west.
The Doppler radar and satellite imagery shows the snow is already starting to make its way into west-central Montana, producing light snow flurries around Missoula.
In fact, we have a cold front marching through the state Monday afternoon that’s kicking off the scattered snow showers.
That cold front will make it into the Billings area about 11 p.m. and produce light scattered snow showers. It’s only about a 20 to 30 percent chance for snow Monday evening.
Monday night, that system blows on through the state. And we expect dry skies on most of Tuesday.
On Wednesday, another system starts making its way across the state.
It too will produce some snow in the western part of Montana but is not expected to make it all the way to the Billings area. There is only a slight chance snow with this second cold front.
BILLINGS FORECAST
TONIGHT: Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance for snow showers overnight. West winds 10 to 20 mph. Low 26 degrees.
TUESDAY: Mostly sunny and warmer. Southwest winds 10 to 20 mph. High 42 degrees.
WEDNESDAY: Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance for snow in the morning then a slight chance for rain late in the afternoon. West winds 15 to 30 mph gusting up to 40 mph in the afternoon. High 45 degrees.
