BILLINGS- It is a beautiful Friday afternoon in the Big Sky, and in Billings, the sun is out and the snow on the streets is starting to melt.
The temperature at 2 p.m. is already up to 20 degrees with a north wind about 6 mph, making it feel like 12 above.
Elsewhere around the state, the cold Arctic air is already beginning to enter Montana at Cut Bank, where the current temperature is -1 degree. Everyone else is in the teens and 20s.
By 10 p.m,. the wind chill factor in Billings will have dropped to -12 degrees by 10 p.m. Saturday. It’ll feel like -27 degrees in Billings, and by Sunday morning, it will feel like -34 degrees.
Up at Havre, it’ll feel like -52 degrees, with a lot of -40 degrees readings all across the Hi-Line. This could be some of the coldest air in Billings in the last five years.
The threat board is full, with wind chill advisories across all of eastern Montana, including Billings.
We could see one to four inches of snow in north-central Montana, with blowing and drifting snow out in the west with another one to three inches of snow.
The Doppler radar shows snow is already falling from Missoula to Great Falls all the way to Glasgow.
In fact, that’s where our Arctic cold front is right now. It is forecast to drop into the Billings area after 6 p.m. Friday and produce more snow here in the process.
Eventually, all the snow will be blown out of the state and replaced with very, frigid Arctic air.
It looks like Billings could pick up anywhere from 1 to 2 inches of snow with the passage of this cold front.
However, we will go from 25 degrees at 3 p.m. and drop all the way down the -5 degrees, by Saturday morning.
BILLINGS FORECAST
TONIGHT: Mostly cloudy with an 80 percent chance for snow this evening and again overnight. Snow accumulations around an inch are expected. Northeast winds 10 to 20 mph. Low -7 degrees.
SATURDAY: Mostly cloudy with a 40% chance for snow and very cold. Northeast winds 5 to 15 mph. High -3 degrees.
SUNDAY: Decreasing clouds and very cold. West winds 5 to 15 mph. High 0 degrees.
