BILLINGS- On Friday, the sun is out, the parking lots and streets are starting to thaw out and the temperature is starting to warm up.
Billings has already warmed up into the mid-to upper teens around the region, but we started pretty chilly this morning. Most places were below zero.
However, since then all of our regular reporting stations have warmed up above zero, and a few places actually got into the 20s.
The threat board has a Winter Weather Advisory for the Rocky Mountain front for blowing and drifting snow until midnight.
A Winter Storm Watch goes into effect on Saturday morning through late Tuesday night for the Beartooth Mountains. There the snow could pile up one to three feet by the middle of next week.
Plus we also have an ice jam on the Madison River in Madison County, causing minor flooding at Ennis.
The current Doppler radar and satellite imagery shows generally clear skies across south-central Montana.
However, there is a long fetch of moisture coming from Hawaii streaming all the way into the Pacific Northwest.
This will be our next batch of moisture that will overrun the cold Arctic air this weekend and create some very heavy snow across Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.
It is a little too early to tell how much snow we will see in Billings, but six inches will be a good start.
Up until then, we will enjoy mostly sunny skies on Friday afternoon and again most of Saturday. It looks like the snow will start flying in Billings Sunday afternoon and evening.
Once Sunday hits the honeymoon is over and our temperatures will drop into the bucket, and it probably won’t stop until we are sub-zero.
Afternoon highs next week will only be in the single digits.
BILLINGS FORECAST
TONIGHT: Partly cloudy and warmer. Southwest winds 10 to 20 mph. Low 11 degrees.
SATURDAY: Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow in the afternoon, and a 50 percent chance that evening. West winds 10 to 20 mph. High 32 degrees.
SUNDAY: Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow and cold. East winds 5 to 15 mph. High 7 degrees.
