BILLINGS- Mostly cloudy skies with a few sun breaks are what greeted Billings Monday, along with very cold temperatures. Again, the temperature in Billings had dropped below zero.
But since then, the temps have jumped up into the mid-20s thanks to those little sun break holes in the clouds.
Just about everybody east of the divide was below zero this morning with the exception of Livingston, which was 5 above.
We were also above zero for overnight lows in northern Wyoming and in extreme western Montana.
Southern Montana has warmed up nicely to the 20s and 30s, while the Hi-Line remains in the single digits above and below zero.
The threat board is starting to fill up as a new storm starts making its way into the Western part of the state.
We see a Winter Storm Warning, a Winter Storm Watch, Winter Weather Advisory, Flood Watch and a High Wind Watch. And now we have a Wind Chill advisory, for wind chills to 35 below zero in the Northeast.
Some of the snowfall amounts could be very impressive.
In the mountains around Glacier National Park, the mountains could see eight to 16 inches of snow while the valleys could see two to eight inches of snow.
We have a Flood Watch on the Jefferson River by Twin Bridges. There, an ice jam is causing some flooding. Plus we have a High Wind Watch for the Cody foothills for winds gusting to 80 mph.
Traveling I-90, you will run into whiteout conditions by Big Timber, and road closures as you leave Montana through Raynold’s Pass.
Doppler radar and satellite imagery shows just a few cloudy skies and some light snow for Missoula to Great Falls now, but that is expected to change the night goes on.
We will be looking for a warm front to sweep into south-central Montana on Tuesday and could warm us up into the upper 20s.
Then another cold front pushes through by Wednesday night and roles us back to the teens on Thursday for high temperatures.
BILLINGS FORECAST
TONIGHT: Mostly cloudy with a 60 percent chance for snow. Look for snow accumulations around one inch. Northwest winds 5 to 15 mph this evening shifting to the east overnight. Low 7 degrees.
TUESDAY: Partly sunny, dry and warmer. South winds 5 to 15 mph high 31 degrees.
WEDNESDAY: Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance for snow in the afternoon. Southwest winds 10 to 20 mph in the morning becoming light and variable in the afternoon. High 27 degrees.
