BILLINGS — Cloudy skies and slightly warmer temperatures greeted much of the Billings area Tuesday morning. The warmer temps were a direct result of the downsloping winds off the Beartooth Mountains.
Those westerly winds are blowing at 22 mph, which is helping the temperature warm up into the mid-30s, at 2 p.m. Tuesday.
It was a very cold start in this northeastern corner of the state Tuesday morning. Temperatures there were in the subzero range from -12 to -13 degrees at Glasgow and Glendive.
Elsewhere around central Montana, the morning temps are into the low teens.
Since then, we've warmed up into the 30s and 40s out west, but still in the teens and 20s above zero the northeast.
Starting tonight at 8 p.m. and going to 3 p.m. Wednesday, we have a Wind Advisory for the Beartooth foothills, with winds gusting 50 to 60 mph.
The Doppler radar and satellite imagery shows the snow and Arctic cold in eastern Montana continues to be slowly escorted to the east by the jet stream.
Warm air is moving in from the southwest and will move into the Billings area over the next two days. This means we will be warmer during the daytime and cool enough for snow at night.
Plus, we have several waves of moisture moving across Montana Tuesday through Thursday. This will give us additional chances for rain and snow over that period.
Our temperatures today will stay in the 30s then cool back down to the 20s by Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
We will jump back up into the 40s Wednesday, Thursday and Friday only to roll back to the 30s over the weekend.
BILLINGS FORECAST
TONIGHT: Partly cloudy with patchy fog overnight and cold. South winds 5 to 10 mph. Low 16 degrees.
WEDNESDAY: Patchy fog early in the morning then partly sunny skies by the afternoon. Turning cloudy again with a 20% chance for rain and snow showers in the late afternoon. Southwest winds 5 to 15 mph. High 41 degrees.
THURSDAY: Partly sunny with a 20% chance for rain and snow early in the afternoon changing to rain by later that afternoon. West winds 5 to 15 mph. High 45 degrees.
