This paper presents an analytical solution to predict the transient temperature distribution in fillet arc welding. The analytical solution is obtained by solving a transient three -dimensional heat conduction equation with convection boundary conditions on the surfaces of an infinite plate with finite thicknesses, and mapping an infinite plate onto the fillet weld geometry with energy equation. The electric arc heat input on fillet weld and on infinite plate is assumed to have a traveling bivariate Gaussian distribution. To check the validity of the solution, GTA and FCA welding experiments were performed under various welding conditions. The actual isotherms of the weldment cross - sections at various distances from the arc start point are compared with those of simulation result. As the result shows a satisfactory accuracy, this analytical solution can be used to predict the transient temperature distribution in the fiIIet weld of finite thickness under a moving bivariate Gaussian distributed heat source. The simplicity and short calculation time of the analytical solution provides rationales to use the analytical solution for modeling the welding control systems or for an optimization tool of welding process parameters.