BILLINGS — It is another beautiful day in Billings. Just look at that blue sky out there with a few puffy clouds, and the temperature is not too uncomfortable either.
In the early afternoon, it was 62 degrees in Billings with a northwest wind at 12 mph, occasionally gusting to 26 mph.
Around the rest of the state, temps are mostly into the 50s with a few 60s out west. It's mostly 60s with a few 50s back in the east.
We do have this to talk about Tuesday: A Red Flag Warning for the northeastern corner of the state. High winds, dry fuels and low humidity could cause erratic fire behavior. And should a fire get started, it could burn out of control in a hurry.
The main weather maker Tuesday is a low-pressure cell over North Dakota pulling some windy conditions and spotty rain showers across the northeast corner of the state while the jet stream continues to mix a little of its energy down to the surface.
The high-resolution forecast model shows most of the rain will continue to stay confined to the extreme northeast corner of Montana and western North Dakota at this time.
This means we can enjoy mostly sunny skies across much of Montana the rest of Tuesday.
On Wednesday, you'll see mostly sunny skies to the east and a few cloudy skies rolling into the northwest.
Then on Thursday, you will see more cloudy skies and rain showers moving from the southwest and eventually moving to the Billings area Thursday evening.
In the meantime, our temperatures will continue to be comfortable, generally into the 60s Tuesday afternoon. We will cool back down to 44 degrees in the morning and back up to 73 degrees about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.
We will top out at 81 on Wednesday, 80 on Thursday and then back down to the upper 60s and low 70s as we go into the weekend.
BILLINGS FORECAST
TONIGHT: Mostly clear and mild. East winds 5 to 15 mph the evening shifting to the Southwest 5 to 10 mph overnight. Low 41 degrees.
WEDNESDAY: Mostly sunny and warmer with a Southwest wind at 5 to 15 mph. High 81 degrees.
THURSDAY: Turning cloudy with a 40% chance for rain showers and a slight chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Southwest winds 5 to 15 mph. High 80 degrees.
