BILLINGS — It's Friday afternoon in the Big Sky and we've got plenty of big sky to talk about. That big sky has a lot of blue, with plenty of sunshine, and the temperature is not too bad either.
Currently in Billings, it's 74 degrees with a south wind at 9 mph.
Around the rest of the state, our temperatures are mostly to the 70s, although we do see a few 80s up at Cut Bank and Great Falls and a few 60s at Miles Cty, Sheridan and Worland, Wyoming.
But the big story Friday is the same upper-level, low-pressure cell we’ve been talking about for weeks. Now it's rotating over the Black Hills of South Dakota.
It is sending a little cloud cover and spotty rain showers into the southeast corner of Montana.
That cutoff low continues to track to the east, and as it does so, it'll take most of the rain and cloud cover with it.
Coming in from the west is something we haven't seen for a few days: more smoke. In fact, by the time Saturday gets here, we are looking at smoke across almost the entire state of Montana.
Throughout Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, the entire state will be covered in thick smoke, and the smoke will spread all the way to the Great Lakes.
It will be 80 degrees at 5:30 p.m. Friday then cool back down to the 50s in the morning and back up to 79 degrees about 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
BILLINGS FORECAST
TONIGHT: Mostly clear and mild. North winds 5 to 10 mph the evening shifting to the Southwest overnight. Low 49 degrees.
SATURDAY: Mostly sunny but smoky. Southwest winds 5 to 15 mph high 86 degrees.
SUNDAY: Mostly sunny. West winds 5 to 10 mph the morning shifting to the northwest in the afternoon. High 83 degrees.
