BILLINGS — It's a partly cloudy day in Billings. In the Billings area, in the early afternoon, it’s 73 degrees with a southwest wind at 18 gusting to 25 mph.
Around the rest of the state, our current temps are mostly to the 50s and 60s out in the far west, 70s in central Montana with a few 60s lingering in the extreme eastern edge of the state.
Part of the reason it’s so warm in the central part of Montana is we still have a lot of downsloping winds off the mountains. Wind gusts are ranging from 22 to 59 mph at Cut Bank.
These downsloping winds compress the air that's already here and heat it up.
On the threat board, we have three Winter Storm Watches for this weekend with snowfall amounts range anywhere from 5 to 10 all the way up to two feet on the eastern-facing slopes of the Divide.
Plus, we have a High Wind Warning for the Rocky Mountain front, and into the Big Snowy Mountains, winds could be gusting up to 70 mph.
There is also a Red Flag Warning for southwestern Montana for an increased fire risk due to the high winds and low humidity through 6 p.m. Thursday.
The Doppler radar shows the showers are already beginning in the northwestern corner of the state.
Back here in eastern Montana, we will continue to stay warm. The snow will start moving into northwestern Montana by Friday morning and they continue there through Saturday afternoon.
We think the snow will move into Billings sometime Sunday.
Snowfall amounts will pile up to 4 to 6 inches for Billings, 6 to 10 inches in Livingston and up to two feet near Lewistown on Sunday.
We will top out at 59 on Friday, 56 on Saturday and back down into the upper 20s and low 30s, as we start next week.
BILLINGS FORECAST
TONIGHT: Partly cloudy and mild. West winds 5 to 15 mph. Low 44 degrees.
FRIDAY: Increasing clouds and cooler. North winds 5 to 15 mph. High 59 degrees.
SATURDAY: Mostly cloudy and cooler. East winds 5 to 10 mph. High 56 degrees.
