BILLINGS — The shift in our weather pattern is beginning.
A cold front is bringing much cooler air into the area and we’ll get progressively colder through the weekend. Along with the colder temperatures comes plenty of moisture that will fall as heavy snow in the mountains and rain/snow in the lower elevations through Monday morning.
A Winter Storm Warning will be in effect tonight through Sunday evening in the Crazies/Beartooths/Absarokas with 1-2 feet of snowfall expected. Winds gusting up to 40 mph will also cause blowing snow. A Winter Storm Watch will be in effect late Saturday night through late Sunday night for the Pryor/Northern Bighorn Mountains in Montana and the Northeast Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming. 10-15" will be possible. Gusts up to 35 mph could cause blowing snow.
There is still some uncertainty with what snow accumulations could be in the lower elevations. Going with a blend of models, Billings could get less than a half inch, areas west 1-3", east .50-1", south up to 1" and north up to 4". These totals could definitely change as the models come become more agreeable.
Rainfall totals across most of the Q2 viewing area could hit between .50-1.50" tonight through Monday morning.
As daytime temps cool, nighttime temps will also get colder with some areas seeing their first freeze of the season this weekend with lows at or below freezing.
Daytime highs will be in the 60s/70s today, 40s/50s/60s tomorrow, 30s/40s on Sunday, then 40s/50s Monday through Thursday.
Nighttime lows will be mainly in the 40s tonight then 20s/30s across the weekend through the middle of next week.
-Miller Robson
Q2 Morning Meteorologist
miller.robson@ktvq.com
