BILLINGS — It's mostly cloudy skies with 53 degrees for Billings early Friday afternoon. There is a threat of rain moving in later this afternoon and tonight. The big snowstorm is still going to be someone else's worry in the northwest corner the state.
Around the rest of the state, the temps are mostly in the 40s and 50s, but most of the 40s are up in the northwest corner of the state around where the big snowstorm is going to hit.
Right now, the Doppler radar shows scattered rain showers from Missoula to Great Falls and arching all the way back to just west of Billings.
Out in extreme western Montana, the wind will be a problem overnight, gusting anywhere from 40 to 50 mph.
The Winter Storm Warning is still on track for the mountains with snowfall amounts in the Rocky Mountain front to hit 15 to 36 inches of snow. Near Missoula, we could see 6 to 14 inches of snow in the mountains and 1 to 3 inches of snow in the valley.
Around all of that we have several Winter Storm Watches that range from 1 to 3 inches of snow by Kalispell the 10 to 20 inches of snow in the Beartooth Mountains.
Right now, the high-rResolution forecast shows most of the heavier rain and snow being jammed up in northwestern Montana Friday evening.
We could start to see a few showers move into the Billings area after 6 p.m., but most of it will be fairly light.
Then by Saturday morning, Billings will get a little more rain while most of the snow continues to stay up in the northwest.
We will continue to see showers off and on throughout the afternoon in Billings on Saturday, while the snow continues out west.
We might see a little wave of snowfall move through Sunday morning in Billings, but most of it will be rain.
The estimated snowfall amounts will continue to be light for Billings, while out west it will be anything but light snow. Look for snowfall to be anywhere from 6 to 10 inches, to 14 to 20 inches, up to 4 feet by Cut Bank.
Our high temperatures will continue to stay mostly to the 40s through Tuesday and then jump up into the 50s by the middle part of next week.
BILLINGS FORECAST
TONIGHT: Scattered light rain showers with a slight chance for thunderstorms early this evening, then rain likely in the late evening and overnight. Chance of rain is 70%. East winds 10 to 20 mph. Low 42 degrees.
SATURDAY: Mostly cloudy with a 90% chance for rain in the morning and then rain again in the afternoon. Northeast winds 5 to 15 mph. High 48 degrees.
SUNDAY: Mostly cloudy with a 60% chance for rain likely in the morning through afternoon. Rain could be changing over to snow Sunday night. North winds 5 to 15 mph. High 49 degrees.
