BILLINGS- Cloudy skies are rolling in, but the temps are still hanging in there in the Billings area.
At 2 p.m. Tuesday, the temperature in Billings had already climbed up in the low 80s and was threatening to go higher.
We see several scattered rain showers developing over the southwest, and they seem to be heading for the Billings area.
The only thing preventing them from moving in tonight would be downsloping winds off the mountains. Downsloping winds have a tendency to inhibit rainfall development.
However, if the showers are strong enough, they can overcome the downsloping effect, and thunderstorms could still move into the region.
In fact, the computer models are talking about several inches of rain moving into the region between Friday and Monday morning, but in the meantime were expecting something less than that.
We do see another cold front moving in from the Pacific Northwest on Wednesday that will warm things up before it gets here, thanks to pre-frontal warming.
The pre-frontal warming could cook us up to the 80s again on Wednesday.
After the cold front passes, we expect to see a few more scattered showers on Wednesday and temperatures beginning to start their slow roll backward into the 50s.
Another cold front is expected to drop down from Canada about the same time more moisture moves in from the southwest. The two combine and more showers are possible into the weekend.
BILLINGS FORECAST
TONIGHT: Mostly cloudy with a 20% chance for isolated showers and thunderstorms this evening. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph. Low 57 degrees.
WEDNESDAY: decreasing clouds with a 20% chance for showers and thunderstorms again later in the afternoon. West winds 5 to 15 mph the morning shifting to the Northeast in the afternoon. High 81 degrees.
THURSDAY: Mostly cloudy with a 40% chance for showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon some thunderstorms may contain heavy rainfall. East winds 5 to 15 mph. High 75 degrees.
