A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is in effect for a lot of the mountain ranges in central and southwestern Montana until 6am Sunday and for the Melville foothills until 9am Saturday.
A WINTER STORM WATCH is in effect for the Butte/Blackfoot region from 12am until 9am Sunday.
A WINTER STORM WARNING is in effect for the Crazy Mountains until 6pm Sunday.
Rain and mountain snow is likely in Helena this evening and tonight, generally before midnight. Some snow may also mix in with this rain at times in the lower elevations. In north-central Montana, there are going to be areas of precipitation around this evening and tonight. The precipitation will start in the form of rain, but this rain will mix in with and switch-over to snow as the night goes on.
Tomorrow, in north-central Montana, there are going to be some areas of primarily snow around during the morning and there are going to be some scattered snow, graupel, and rain showers around during the afternoon/evening. Around Helena, there are going to be some scattered snow, graupel, and rain showers around tomorrow, generally in the mountains and especially during the evening. We are also going to have mostly cloudy to overcast skies tonight and tomorrow.
In the lower elevations, up to 3” of snow is possible through Saturday evening, but most locations will receive <1.5” of snow. This snow will cause the roads to be slick/slushy in some areas later tonight and tomorrow morning, so please use caution when driving and give yourself some extra time to get to where you need to go. In the mountains in central Montana, including the Big Belts, Highwoods, and Little Belts, 3-10” of snow is possible through tomorrow evening, and Kings Hill Pass will be slushy for most of the day tomorrow.
It is also going to be chilly tonight and tomorrow as lows tonight are going to be in the mid to upper 20s and low to mid 30s, and highs tomorrow are going to be in the mid to upper 30s and low to mid 40s, with the warmest temperatures around Helena.
There are then going to be scattered snow, graupel, and rain showers around tomorrow night and Sunday (especially during the morning) as another disturbance impacts our area. Additional snow accumulations of a coating to an inch or two are possible in the lower elevations tomorrow night through Sunday evening, with a few inches of additional snow accumulation possible in the mountains. This means that roads will be slick/slushy in some areas tomorrow night and Sunday, so please be careful when driving! It is also going to be chilly again on Sunday as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 30s and low to mid 40s.
Rain and snow showers are then likely around Helena on Monday, generally during the PM hours, and there are going to be some scattered rain and snow showers around in north-central Montana on Monday as another disturbance begins to impact our area. There are then going to be some scattered snow and rain showers around on Tuesday as this disturbance leaves our area. We are also going to have mostly cloudy skies and warmer temperatures on these two days as highs are going to be in the 40s and low 50s. There is also going to be a breeze around on Tuesday in some areas as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph.
We are then going to have partly cloudy skies and mostly dry conditions (just a few isolated rain/snow showers around) on Wednesday as high pressure is going to briefly be in control of our weather. It is also going to be breezy on Wednesday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph, and we are going to have near average temperatures on Wednesday as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 40s and low to mid 50s.
Some more scattered rain and snow showers are then possible on Thursday and Friday as our active weather pattern continues. We are also going to have partly to mostly cloudy skies on these two days. There is also going to be a bit of a breeze around on these two days as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph. The temperatures are also going to cool down some over these two days as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 40s and low to mid 50s on Thursday and the 40s and upper 30s on Friday.
