BILLINGS — A few cloudy skies and mild temperatures continue into the Billings area Thursday afternoon. The temperature in Billings at 1:30 p.m. was 42 degrees with increasing cloudy skies.
Around the rest of the state, our temps were mostly into the 30s out west and 40s in the central part of the state, with a few 20s up on the Hi-Line. By Glasgow, there were even a few 30s in the eastern edge of the state.
The big picture on the Doppler radar and satellite imagery shows a few scattered rain and snow showers between Kalispell and Missoula, and they continue to push toward the southeast.
It’s all part of a larger picture that shows more moisture moving on shore in Portland, Ore., and moving into the northwestern corner of Montana.
From there, the moisture hits the mountains and rides right down the spine of the Rockies to northwest Wyoming.
Our high-resolution forecast model shows that moisture will continue to bump up against the mountains and continue to track toward the southeast but somehow stay away from Billings.
Another batch of moisture starts moving in from Idaho on Friday morning.
It gets a little closer to Billings but eventually, after coming down the eastern slopes of the Divide, it seems to jump over Billings and produce scattered rain showers in the eastern edge of the state.
The moisture appears to jump over the Billings area because it's receiving downsloping winds off the mountains, which can inhibit rain or snowfall development.
Our temps will continue to stay into the 40s Thursday afternoon and then roll back into the low 30s later at night and then jump back up to 45 degrees by 1:30 p.m. Friday.
We will top out at 48 degrees on Friday and work our way into the 50s over the weekend. From there, the temps roll back into the mid-40s on Tuesday and Wednesday.
BILLINGS FORECAST
TONIGHT: Turning mostly cloudy and chilly. Southwest winds 10 to 20 mph. Low 30 degrees.
FRIDAY: Mostly sunny and a little warmer. Southwest winds 10 to 20 mph. High 48 degrees.
SATURDAY: Mostly sunny and warmer still. West winds 10 to 20 mph. High 50 degrees.
