BILLINGS — On Tuesday afternoon, we are seeing mostly cloudy skies in Billings and temps in the low 40s.
Around the rest of the state, we see mostly 30s and 40s, although we do see some low 50s in the northwest corner of Montana.
The threat board shows a Winter Weather Advisory from Alberta, Canada, down to Idaho and northern Wyoming.
We could see various amounts of snowfall ranging anywhere from 1 to 4 inches in the lower elevations, 5 to 10 inches up in the higher elevations of the mountains across the state.
We also have a Winter Storm Warning for the Beartooth Mountains for 10 to 14 inches of snow up there and that estimate could even go higher.
The Doppler radar is already showing some light snow in south-central Montana mixing with rain in the afternoon, simply because it's just too warm to snow around Billings.
Like Monday, this is all part of the same upper-level, low-pressure cell over the Great Lakes. That cell is drawing cooler air and moisture from Alberta, Canada and dragging it across central and South-central Montana.
The high-resolution forecast model shows the snow continues to be upslope in the mountains but scattered rain and snow showers are expected down in the plains and around Billings through the afternoon.
By Wednesday morning, a new cold front arrives from southern Canada bringing with it a fresh supply of snowfall across the state.
The snow showers are expected to push their way to the south as Wednesday afternoon wears on, and move out of the area, allowing only a few scattered and isolated snow flurries for Thursday morning.
The computer models are suggesting only 1 to 2 inches of snow for Billings, Sheridan could see 6 to 10 inches while Livingston could see 4 to 6 inches of new snow while Miles City sees just some light flurries.
Our temperatures will get into the 40s for the rest of this afternoon, then roll back down to the 30s in the morning and stay there for most of the afternoon on Wednesday.
Our temperatures will continue to climb the rest of the week and in fact, could top out in the 60s by Sunday and Monday.
BILLINGS FORECAST
TONIGHT: Mostly cloudy with an 80% chance for rain in the early evening mixing with snow late in the evening and overnight. We expect snow after 3 AM. Accumulations will be an inch or less. West winds 5 to 15 mph. Low 30 degrees.
WEDNESDAY: Mostly cloudy with a 90% chance for snow in the morning mixing with rain in the afternoon. Snow accumulations around an inch. North winds 10 to 20 mph. High 38 degrees.
THURSDAY: Partly sunny with a 20% chance for snow in the morning. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph high 39 degrees.
