A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is in effect for portions of northeastern Montana from 5pm Friday until 11am Saturday and for portions of central and southern Montana from 5pm Friday/12am Saturday until 5pm Saturday.
A WINTER STORM WARNING is in effect for the Bears Paw mountains, the Highwoods, the Judith mountains, the Little Belts, and the Snowies from 5pm Friday until 5pm Saturday.
A DENSE FOG ADVISORY is in effect for portions of southwestern Montana, including I-90 from east of Butte to Bozeman, and Highway 287 from Helena to Harrison.
A HIGH WIND WARNING is in effect for central/eastern Glacier County, central Pondera County, and western Toole County from 2am until 12pm Friday.
We are going to have increasing wind tonight, with strong winds developing along the Rocky Mountain Front/around the Cut Bank area and breezy conditions developing in portions of the plains. Strong winds are then expected tomorrow along the Rocky Mountain Front as wind gusts up to 80 mph are possible. Strong winds are also expected tomorrow around the Cut Bank area as wind gusts up to 65 mph are possible. Elsewhere, gusty winds are expected tomorrow as wind gusts over 40 mph are possible, and this wind will spread east as the day goes on (northeastern Montana won’t see the stronger wind until tomorrow evening). Widespread blustery conditions are then expected tomorrow night and Saturday as gusts up to 40 mph are possible, and the strongest wind tomorrow night and Saturday will be in locations east of I-15.
We are also going to have increasing clouds tonight with patchy dense fog around, especially in the valleys in southwestern Montana, including around Canyon Ferry and Townsend. We are then going to have mostly cloudy skies tomorrow with a few scattered rain/snow showers around east of the Divide, mainly during the afternoon/evening, and developing snow/rain tomorrow afternoon/evening along and west of the Divide. It is also going to be chilly tonight as lows are going to be in the teens and low to mid 20s, and it is going to be warmer tomorrow than it was today as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 30s and low to mid 40s.
There are then going to be areas of precipitation around tomorrow night. Precipitation tomorrow night may start out as rain/freezing rain or a rain/snow mix, but will eventually transition over to snow for everyone. There are then going to be scattered snow showers around in the lower elevations on Saturday, with a steadier and heavier snow expected in the mountains within central Montana.
In the lower elevations, up to 3” of snow is possible through Saturday evening. In the foothills and northerly upslope areas, like around Lewistown and along Highway 87 from east of Great Falls to west of Stanford, 3-8+” of snow is expected through Saturday evening, with locations between Belt and Geyser receiving the most snow (possibly up to a foot). In the mountains, 4+” of snow is expected, with up to 2 feet of snow possible in the Highwoods, Little Belts, Snowies, and Bears Paw mountains through Saturday evening.
This snow will create slippery travel conditions in the lower elevations, and difficult to possibly impossible travel conditions in the mountains and along Highway 87 between Belt and Geyser, so please use extreme caution when traveling. There are also going to be areas of reduced visibility and areas of blowing and drifting snow around tomorrow night and Saturday due to the combination of falling snow and gusty winds, so that’s another hazard you will have to contend with if you are going to be traveling anywhere.
More scattered snow is then expected on Sunday, with light additional snow accumulations possible in the lower elevations and several inches of additional snow accumulation possible in the mountains. We are also going to have seasonable temperatures this weekend as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 20s and low to mid 30s in most locations (teens in northeastern Montana on Sunday). It is also going to be a little breezy in some areas on Sunday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 5 and 20 mph.
On Monday, we are going to have mostly sunny skies with a couple lingering snow showers around during the morning as this weekend’s storm system leaves our area. We are then going to have mostly sunny skies and dry conditions on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday as an upper-level ridge is going to be in control of our weather. Valley inversions are also possible next week, so it may be foggy at times in western and southwestern Montana, including around Helena.
Highs on Monday are going to be in the mid to upper 20s and low 30s. It is then going to be warmer on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday as highs are going to be in the 30s and low 40s in most locations. It is also going to be breezy in some areas next week as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph.
Colder temperatures and some more snow is then expected as we head into MLK weekend.
