A HIGH WIND WARNING is in effect for most of central Montana until 10am/11am/3pm Tuesday and for all of eastern Montana from 11pm/5am tonight until 5pm Tuesday.
Here is the detailed forecast:
A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is in effect for northeastern Montana from 11pm tonight until 2pm Tuesday.
We have had gusty to strong winds around throughout the day today and the wind will continue to get stronger from west to east as we go through this evening and tonight. The wind will then gradually diminish later on tomorrow. It is going to be very windy tonight and tomorrow as sustained wind speeds will be between 20 and 45 mph, and wind gusts will be between 60 and 80 mph, with the strongest wind gusts along the Rocky Mountain Front. The wind will be coming out of the west or southwest in most locations, and will make travel difficult for high-profile vehicles and vehicles pulling trailers, especially on north-south oriented highways. Holiday decorations can easily blow away with winds this strong, so make sure you tie them down or bring them inside before you go to bed tonight.
There are also going to be scattered rain and mountain snow showers around tonight, especially after midnight and mainly in central Montana, along the Rocky Mountain Front, and in locations east of I-15 in north-central Montana. There are then going to be scattered rain and mountain snow showers around the Helena area tomorrow, generally during the morning, and there are going to be some scattered rain and snow showers around in north-central Montana tomorrow, generally during the morning and mainly in locations east of I-15. Some freezing rain will also be possible in northeastern Montana late tonight and tomorrow morning, and light ice accumulations of up to .05” are possible.
Along the Divide, over a half foot of snow is expected through tomorrow evening. In the mountains in north-central Montana, up to 6” of snow is possible, and in the lower elevations, up to 3” of snow is possible through tomorrow evening, although most will receive little to no snow accumulation.
It is also going to be mild tonight and tomorrow as lows tonight are going to be in the 30s and low to mid 40s, and highs tomorrow are going to be in the 40s and low 50s. The high temperatures tomorrow will occur during the morning though, with the temperatures dropping some during the afternoon.
A disturbance will bring some snow, mixing with rain in spots, to our area later tomorrow night. There are then going to be scattered rain and mountain snow showers around the Helena area on Wednesday, especially during the morning, and there are going to be scattered areas of rain and snow around in north-central Montana east of I-15 on Wednesday as this disturbance continues to impact our area. For those that see some snow, light snow accumulations of a coating to an inch or two are possible, but for many, there will be little to no snow accumulation.
It is also going to be mild again on Wednesday as highs are going to be in the 40s and low to mid 50s in most locations (30s and upper 20s along the eastern half of the Hi-Line). Gusty to strong winds are also expected again on Wednesday as gusts over 70 mph are possible along the Rocky Mountain Front and gusts over 45 mph are possible east of the Rocky Mountain Front.
A strong, arctic cold front will push southward through north-central and central Montana on Thursday. Temperatures will start out in the 30s and 40s during the morning, but will fall into the 0s and 10s by sunset. Precipitation will accompany this front. Initially, the precipitation will start out as rain, but this rain will quickly switch-over to snow, and some of the snow that falls could be heavy at times. There are then going to be areas of light to moderate snow around Thursday night and Friday. This looks to be a good snow event for north-central Montana as most will likely receive at least 3” of snow, and there may be some areas that receive up to or over a foot of snow, especially east of I-15. This snow will lead to difficult travel, especially since a flash freeze is possible before the snow begins to accumulate.
Thursday will be a breezy day as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 25 mph, and wind gusts over 40 mph are possible. Friday will feature bitterly cold temperatures as highs are going to be in the 0s and 10s. The Helena area will miss this cool-down though as highs will remain in the 30s and low 40s.
Saturday will be another frigid day with highs in the -0s and 0s along the Hi-Line and the teens and low 20s south of the Hi-Line. Helena will have pleasant temperatures again with highs in the 30s. We are also going to have mostly cloudy skies on Saturday with some lingering snow showers around during the morning, especially in the mountains.
Warmer air returns on Sunday as highs are going to be back in the 30s and low to mid 40s. The wind also returns on Sunday as it is going to be breezy with sustained wind speeds between 10 and 25 mph. We are also going to have partly cloudy skies and mostly dry conditions on Sunday.
