WEATHER DISCUSSION: There was a brief warmup today with high temperatures in the 20’s for a lot of areas. Others saw highs in the single digits and teens. Expect a cloudy night tonight with low temperatures, quite cold, below zero and in the single digits. Wind chills could be as low as -15 degrees. Winds tonight will be on the lighter side, with gusts up to 20 mph.
Temperatures will slowly cool through the rest of the weekend before an arctic front arrives Monday bringing significantly colder temperatures to the region. Expect high temperatures tomorrow to cool pretty quickly, in the single digits along the Rocky Mountain Front and portions of the Hi-line. Other North Central and Central locations will see high temperatures in the teens.
Northwest flow aloft in combination with moisture from the Pacific will bring light snow showers over the next couple days. In general, snow totals through Monday morning are expected to stay below one inch for most lower elevations The highest amounts are expected in the Little Belts and Snowies where there is a chance for two inches or more.
An Extreme Cold Watch will be in effect for portions of Central, North Central, and SW Montana from Monday evening through Tuesday morning. This is warning of a chance of dangerously cold wind chills as low as 45 below zero. Frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes.
Upper-level ridging starts to build over the region Tuesday/Wednesday which will moderate temperatures a bit through the middle of the week before another arctic front arrives Thursday to cool things back down. As these air masses collide, warm air aloft along with more Pacific moisture will likely create a snow event for central and southwest Montana.
