BILLINGS — On this the first day of 2020, Billings started out with a few sun breaks and clouds with very high winds and warmer temperatures. It was 47 degrees at 1:30 p.m. this afternoon.
Around the rest the state our temperatures are mostly into the 30s in the West, 40s along the high line until you get the Glasgow and then 40s from Great Falls all the way down to the 50s in Sheridan, Wyoming.
High wind is still an issue, especially on the Beartooth foothills winds in excess of 65 mph and that stays with us right up to Harlowton.
But by Great Falls it's a Flood Watch due to an ice jam on the Missouri River, which is causing some flooding along Riverside Park.
Farther out the West, it's a Winter Weather Advisory with various amounts of snowfall ranging anywhere from 1 to 4 inches in the valleys to up to a foot of snow with ice on top of that.
Plus, we have a Backcountry Avalanche Warning for the mountains near Missoula.
In the Beartooth Mountains, We have a Winter Storm Warning for 9 to 15 inches of snow above the 7000 foot level for West facing slopes.
The Doppler radar shows you what's happening. The snow is moving in from the Northwest and will push its way right up against the Beartooth mountains.
Plus, we are looking at rain to the North of Billings. It is just too warm for snow here now, so any moisture that moves in will probably come down as rainfall.
In fact, that's exactly what the High-Resolution forecast model is suggesting. The moisture that comes in here later tonight will continue to stay as rainfall and stay that way through Thursday.
On Friday morning, we might start to see another batch of moisture move in that could come down as snowfall.
Our afternoon highs will continue to stay into the 40s to the rest of the week and bounce up to 54 degrees on Saturday, then roll back into the 40s as we start up next week.
BILLINGS FORECAST
TONIGHT: Mostly cloudy and windy with a 20% chance for rain mixing with snow overnight. West winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 40 mph. Low 35°.
THURSDAY: Mostly sunny, windy and mild. West winds 15 to 30 mph with gusts to 45 mph in the afternoon. High 43°.
FRIDAY: Partly sunny, warmer and not as windy. Southwest winds 5 to 15 mph. High 44°.
