A WINTER STORM WARNING is in effect for western Montana from 5am/11am/3pm/5pm Wednesday until 11am Thursday. In the lower elevations, 3 to 16 inches of snow accumulation is expected. In the mountains and along Highway 56, 12 to 24 inches of snow accumulation is expected.
A WINTER STORM WARNING is also in effect for all of north-central Montana and portions of south-central Montana from 11pm Tuesday until 11am/5pm Thursday. In the lower elevations, 5 to 12 inches of snow accumulation is expected. In the mountains, 4 to 15 inches of snow accumulation is possible.
A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is in effect for portions of northeastern and southwestern Montana from 11pm Tuesday/5am Wednesday until 11am Thursday. 4 to 10 inches of snow accumulation is expected.
A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is also in effect for portions of southeastern and south-central Montana from 2am/5am Wednesday until 5pm Thursday. 1 to 5 inches of snow accumulation is expected.
There are going to be areas of light to moderate snow around tonight, with the snow becoming more widespread in central and western Montana as we get closer to sunrise tomorrow morning. Periods of snow are then expected tomorrow in central and western Montana, with snow likely during the morning and the late afternoon/evening and a bit of a break in the snow during the middle of the day. Widespread snow is then going to impact all of Montana tomorrow night, especially prior to midnight, and some of this snow may be heavy at times. We are then going to have mostly to partly cloudy skies on Thursday with some scattered snow showers around during the morning, generally in southern and eastern Montana, as this storm system leaves our area.
In north-central Montana, this is going to be the biggest snowstorm that we have had since last October. In the lower elevations, 4 to 12 inches of snow accumulation is expected in most locations, with lower amounts (coating to 5 inches) expected in northeastern Montana. In the mountains, 4 to 15 inches of snow accumulation is expected, with higher amounts possible in the Glacier National Park area. This snow will create difficult travel conditions, so please use caution when driving and give yourself some extra time to get to where you need to go over the next couple of days.
It is going to be cold tonight and tomorrow as lows tonight are going to be in the single digits and low teens, and highs tomorrow are going to be in the single digits and low to mid teens in a lot of locations. It is then going to be frigid on Thursday as highs are going to be in the single digits above and below zero. There is also going to be a bit of a breeze around in some areas tomorrow night and on Thursday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph.
On Friday, we are going to have mostly cloudy skies with some scattered snow showers around the Helena area and a slight chance of snow showers in north-central Montana as a disturbance passes through our area. We are then going to have a chance to see a few snow and rain showers on Saturday in north-central Montana, and there are going to be scattered snow showers around Saturday afternoon/evening around the Helena area as another disturbance passes through our area. We are also going to have mostly cloudy skies on Saturday.
The temperatures are also going to warm up a lot over these two days as highs are going to be in the single digits, teens, and low 20s on Friday, and the 20s and 30s on Saturday. It is also going to be a bit breezy on Saturday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph.
Partly cloudy skies and mostly dry conditions are then expected on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday as high pressure is going to be in control of our weather. We are also going to have near to above average temperatures on these three days as highs are going to range from the mid 20s to the low 40s. It is also going to be breezy in some areas on these three days as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph.
