BILLINGS — Tuesday starts off with more sunshine and daytime highs will climb back into the 70s and 80s ahead of a cool down that kicks in starting tomorrow.
Clouds begin to move in this afternoon then rain and mountain snow will start creep in by tonight. The Pacific trough strengthens across the area bringing a good chance for rain tomorrow and Thursday. A good portion of the area will have a shot at half an inch of rainfall with a few spots in south central MT/north central WY reaching for 1" or even 2" by Thursday night.
The Beartooths, Absarokas, and Bighorns have a very good chance of receiving at least 6" of snowfall down to 6000 feet Wednesday and Thursday with heavy snow at times. The Bighorns could get well over 1 foot of snow (Winter Storm Watch will be in place) with less of a chance in the Beartooths although it's not completely out of the question. Red Lodge could receive some wet snow off this system, but little accumulation is expected.
Gusty winds up to 30 mph will be possible in the Livingston area and eastern MT today while the rest of the region will experience at least breezy conditions. Strong winds will be possible in the Sheridan area with gusts up to 50 mph on Thursday.
The trough exits Friday allowing dry conditions to return across the weekend as temperatures start to slowly warm back up.
Daytime highs will be in the 70s/80s today, 50s/60s tomorrow, 40s/50s on Thursday and Friday, 50s on Saturday then 60s Sunday and Monday.
Lows will be in the 40s/50s tonight, 40s tomorrow night, 30s/40s Thursday night, 30s Friday night and Saturday night, 30s/40s Sunday night then 40s on Monday night.
-Miller Robson
Q2 Morning Meteorologist
miller.robson@ktvq.com
