A cold front is pulling away from the area into eastern Montana after bringing strong winds on Sunday and accumulating snow to some areas this morning. Peak wind gusts reached an 76mph in East Glacier, with Great Falls also seeing very strong gusts, with the peak gust clocking in at 72mph. Snowfall continues along the Continental Divide and into southwest Montana, leading to extremely slick road conditions, particularly between Butte and Bozeman, where many mountain passes are covered in snow and ice.
Throughout the morning, steadier snow will move into the Billings area, while central Montana will see decreasing clouds and winds. Temperatures will be much cooler today, only reaching the upper 30s and lower 40s. This will actually be the warmest afternoon all week. A low pressure system settles in bringing progressively colder temperatures each day.
By Wednesday and Thursday, daytime highs will only reach the upper 20s and low 30s, with increasing cloud cover. More snow showers will start to move into western Montana Wednesday night into Thursday, primarily affecting the mountains through Friday evening.
Then, a Canadian cold front will drop in bringing widespread snowfall to central Montana. Areas further to the south will likely mix with snow as some mild air lingers. Current weather model projections show variability in potential snow amounts, with some predicting heavy accumulation while others suggest a more modest total. Regardless, travelers should anticipate potential impacts across the region this coming weekend.
Arctic air settles in behind the front leading to the coldest air of the season so far. By Sunday, temperatures will struggle to get out of the 10s, and some areas could dip below zero early next week, especially in areas that have snowpack. The cold air does look to stick around for several days next week, before gradual warming closer to Thanksgiving.
