Wild weather is ahead for the rest of the week in Montana as a long-duration atmospheric river event will kick off today lasting through Saturday, bringing another round of high winds followed by a significant snowstorm.
Today's Forecast:
A strong low pressure system will move along the Canadian border late tonight into Thursday. Heavy snow will return to areas along the Continental Divide as winds gradually intensify during the day on Wednesday. The downslope wind will keep areas east of the Divide mostly dry but mostly cloudy with highs in the 40s to near 50.
Strong and damaging winds develop tonight and continue into Thursday. High Wind Warnings cover the entire area starting at midnight tonight through 6 p.m. Thursday. The combination of heavy snow and high winds will likely create whiteout conditions near the Rocky Mountain Front, especially Thursday morning.
Temperatures will warm to the 40s to near 50 across central Montana and remain in the 30s toward the Hi-Line on Thursday. A cold front will head southward throughout the day with rain showers switching over to bursts of snow as temperatures fall. The mountains will continue to pick up heavy snowfall.
The front stalls right over central Montana Thursday night into Friday, with a wide range of temperatures from north to south. Areas of snow will develop along the front, with a more widespread snowfall Friday night into Saturday.
Saturday will be cold with snow slowly wrapping up and high temperatures only in the 10s and 20s. Some blowing snow could cause low visibility.
A Winter Storm Watch is in effect from Thursday night through Saturday evening. A general 4-12 inches of snow will fall throughout central Montana, with areas along 87/200 east of Belt to Lewistown picking up some of the heaviest totals, possibly over a foot of snow. Significantly less snowfall is expected south of Great Falls towards Helena due to mixing. Meanwhile, in the mountains, several feet of snow will pile up - providing a long-awaited boost to snowpack.
Next week, a strong ridge of high pressure builds in over the western United States. Temperatures will be well-above average in the 60s and possibly 70s.
