A DENSE FOG ADVISORY is in effect for portions of north-central Montana until 12pm Thursday.
A WINTER STORM WATCH is in effect for Petroleum County and southwestern Phillips County from 2pm Friday until 5pm Saturday.
There are going to be areas of freezing fog around through tomorrow, and some of this fog is going to be dense with visibility at or below a quarter mile. Outside of this fog, you can expect mostly cloudy to overcast skies tonight and tomorrow. There is also going to continue to be some scattered light snow around tonight and tomorrow, and up to an inch of new snow accumulation is possible, although most locations will receive a coating or less of new snow accumulation. Lows tonight will be in the single digits and teens in most locations. It is then going to be cold tomorrow in north-central Montana as highs are going to be in the teens in most locations. Around Helena, it is going to be chilly tomorrow as highs are going to be in the upper 20s and low to mid 30s in most locations.
Widespread accumulating snow is then likely Friday and Saturday. As we go through Friday, this snow will develop from southwest to northeast. This snow will then taper off from west to east as we go through Saturday. The most impactful snow for north-central Montana will fall from Friday afternoon through Saturday morning. Some of the snow that falls may be moderate to heavy at times. Difficult travel conditions are expected on these two days, so please use extreme caution when driving and consider delaying your travel if possible. A little rain and/or freezing rain may also mix in with this snow around the Helena area on Saturday.
There is still A LOT of uncertainty regarding snow amounts with this system, but several inches of snow accumulation is possible. Right now, a widespread 2+” of snow is likely, and some locations will probably receive over a half foot of snow accumulation, with some of the mountains possibly picking up over a foot of snow over these two days. Right now, my preliminary call is for 2-8” of snow in the lower elevations in north-central Montana from tomorrow night through Saturday evening.
It is also going to continue to be cold on Friday and Saturday in north-central Montana as highs are going to be in the single digits, teens, and low 20s, with lows in the -0s, 0s, and low 10s. Around Helena, highs on Friday are going to be in the 20s in most locations and highs on Saturday are going to be in the upper 20s and low to mid 30s in most locations. It is also going to be breezy in some areas east of I-15 on Friday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph.
Some more light snow is then expected on Sunday and Monday, especially around Helena and in central Montana, as a couple more disturbances pass through Montana. We are also going to have mostly cloudy to overcast skies and a wide range of temperatures on these two days as highs are going to range from the single digits to the mid 30s, with the coldest temperatures along the Hi-Line east of I-15 and the warmest temperatures around Helena.
We are then going to have partly to mostly sunny skies and mostly dry conditions on Tuesday. We are also going to have a wide range of temperatures again on Tuesday as highs are going to range from the mid teens to the mid 30s, with the coldest temperatures in northeastern Montana. It is also going to be a little breezy in some areas on Tuesday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 5 and 20 mph.
On Wednesday, we are going to have partly to mostly cloudy skies with a few rain and snow showers around as another disturbance passes through our area. Breezy conditions and warmer temperatures are also expected on Wednesday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph, and highs are going to be in the 30s and low 40s.
