This morning was one of the coldest mornings of this winter so far as lows were in the -10s, -0s, and 0s in a lot of locations, with a few spots even getting down into the -20s! The wind chills were even worse with wind chills as low as -55° in northeastern Montana and wind chills as low as -40° in north-central Montana. Tonight will be slightly warmer than last night, but still very cold as lows are going to be in the -0s and 0s, with lows in the -10s in northeastern Montana. Wind chills tonight will be in the -0s, -10s, and -20s in north-central Montana and the -20s, -30s, and -40s in northeastern Montana.
An EXTREME COLD WARNING remains in effect for far northeastern Montana until 1pm Sunday and a COLD WEATHER ADVISORY in effect for portions of northeastern Montana until 1pm Sunday and for portions of southeastern Montana until 12pm Saturday. There will be a little breeze (5-15 mph) around in some areas tonight as well.
It will continue to be cold this weekend, but it will be warmer than it was today as highs are going to be in the single digits in northeastern Montana and the teens and 20s in north-central Montana and around Helena. There is going to be a breeze around tomorrow, especially in central portions of north-central Montana, as sustained wind speeds will be between 10 and 25 mph, and this wind will make it feel like it is below zero. A chinook wind will then develop in some areas on Sunday with sustained wind speeds between 10 and 20 mph.
The cloud cover will increase tonight with a few snow showers around after midnight. There are then going to be scattered areas of snow around tomorrow as this disturbance impacts our area. There will continue to be some areas of snow around tomorrow night, generally in central Montana (including around Great Falls, Helena, and Lewistown) and in western portions of north-central Montana (between the Divide and I-15). This snow will taper off during the second half of the night and the skies will begin to clear out as well. Sunday will be a mainly sunny and dry day.
A coating-3” of snow is expected in locations around and west of I-15 as well as around the Helena area. In Cascade County, Judith Basin County, and Fergus County, 1-5” of snow is expected, with the highest snow amounts between Belt and Lewistown due to northerly upslope flow. In the mountains, up to 8” of snow is possible. Elsewhere in north-central Montana and northeastern Montana, <1” of snow is expected. Be prepared for slick/snow-covered roads if traveling tomorrow, tomorrow night, or Sunday morning.
Our breezy, mild, and dry weather pattern returns next week. Highs next week are going to be in the 30s and 40s in most locations, with a few spots approaching 50° during the latter half of the week. In northeastern Montana, it will remain chilly next week with highs generally in the teens and 20s. It is also going to be breezy in some areas every day next week as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 25 mph. Monday and Tuesday will be partly to mostly sunny and mostly dry. Wednesday and Thursday will feature mostly cloudy skies and a few isolated snow/rain showers are possible on Thursday. It is then going to be partly cloudy and dry on Friday.
