textproduct: Billings

KEY MESSAGES

- A prolonged period of above normal temperatures will persist through at least the first week of February.

- Periods of light snow in the east tonight into Friday; accumulation of 1-2 inches near the Dakotas border.

- Light rain and snow showers east late Friday night and Saturday; little or no snow accumulation.

- Dry with periods of gusty winds along the western foothills through the next 7 days.

UPDATE

Radar returns are gradually increasing this evening as an upper level wave slides through the region. While much of these returns appear to be cloud cover at this time (per webcam imagery), there are pockets of light snow occurring, especially around the mountains. As we progress into tonight, look for light snow to fill in over the plains of eastern Montana as the aforementioned wave interacts with a surface trough. The latest guidance still suggests snowfall totals of 1 to 2 inches over the plains of eastern Montana, greatest near the Montana/Dakotas border, and a 1 to 4 inches of snow on the west facing slopes of the mountains, with locally higher amounts in the northern Bighorn Mountains. Outside of the precipitation, the wave is also spreading breezy west to northwesterly winds across the region. With this, gusts in the teens and 20s (mph) will be common into Thursday, with gusts in the 30s and 40s (mph) over the foothills west of Billings. Arends

AVIATION

Light snow will move through the region this evening into Thursday. While airfields over the plains of south-central Montana (including KBIL) will likely remain dry, airfields over eastern Montana and northern Wyoming (including KMLS, KBHK, and KSHR) could see MVFR to IFR conditions with low ceilings and light snow (moderate to high chance, best near KBHK). While the snow will taper off for most Thursday morning, lingering light snow may continue to impact far eastern Montana around KBHK and K97M into Friday. Otherwise, breezy west to northwesterly winds will prevail this evening into Thursday across much of the area. Arends

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS

Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed ----------------------------------------------------------- BIL 033/049 032/049 036/056 033/058 035/055 032/050 029/052 10/B 00/B 10/B 00/B 00/B 11/B 10/B LVM 030/045 030/047 036/051 034/057 033/049 029/044 027/049 20/N 01/N 00/N 00/B 01/B 11/B 10/U HDN 030/048 030/049 031/056 027/056 029/054 030/049 027/052 31/B 11/B 21/B 00/B 01/B 12/W 11/B MLS 023/037 018/034 023/048 023/045 024/048 028/044 023/045 44/S 11/E 22/W 00/B 00/B 11/B 10/B 4BQ 028/041 024/038 025/049 026/049 027/050 030/044 026/046 54/S 23/J 12/W 00/B 00/B 11/B 11/B BHK 017/029 010/023 010/041 022/039 020/039 022/036 018/037 66/S 42/J 25/W 00/B 00/E 11/E 10/B SHR 028/044 025/045 026/053 025/056 028/051 026/044 022/047 31/B 12/J 11/B 00/B 01/B 22/W 21/B

BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

MT...None. WY...None.