Billings will start out the year 2019 with partly cloudy skies and cold temperatures.
Even though the temperatures are warming into the mid teens we are still looking at wind chill factors that are below zero in Billings.
In fact, just about everybody east of the divide was below zero for the overnight low.
Butte seems to be the coldest at -20°, next was Bozeman, it was -15° even Glendive dipped to -12°, while in northern Wyoming, Sheridan and Worland both got to -17°.
Our afternoon temperatures were all above zero, except it’s still a little chilly in the southwest and in northern Wyoming, where we have single digit temperatures.
We also have a Winter Weather Advisory for blowing and drifting snow causing reduced visibility in Wheatland, Park, Sweet Grass and Stillwater Counties.
Plus we have an Airport Weather Warning for the Glacier National Park Airport by Kalispell and the Missoula airport. We could see 1 to 2 inches of snow at both of those areas delaying airport operations.
The Doppler radar and satellite imagery tells the story today; you see some cloudy skies and minor snow flurries pushing in from the Northwest.
This is a minor shortwave weather disturbance that continues to race through the state tonight and will be out of the state by Wednesday morning.
After that we expect mostly sunny skies for the rest of Wednesday into Thursday.
Our temperatures are expected to slowly but surely work their way up into the low 30s by about 1: 30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.
BILLINGS FORECAST
TONIGHT: Mostly cloudy and warmer with possible patchy snow in the evening. Then areas of blowing snow overnight. Southwest winds 15 to 25 mph. Creating wind chill factors as low as -5 to -15°. Low 12°.
WEDNESDAY: Mostly sunny, windy and not as cold. Look for areas of blowing and drifting snow in the morning and early afternoon. Southwest winds 15 to 30 mph, creating wind chill temperatures to -10°. High 34°.
THURSDAY: Mostly sunny, windy and warmer. Southwest winds 15 to 30 mph. High 42°.
