It’s been an active day of weather across Montana today with scattered rain, freezing rain, sleet, graupel, and snow showers. There were even some snow squalls in southwestern Montana today that were accompanied by thunder and lightning. To go along with the precipitation, it has also been windy today with gusts over 50 mph in some locations and it has been a lot colder as temperatures have been in the 30s and 40s throughout the day.
There will continue to be areas of light to moderate snow around this evening and tonight, but this snow will gradually taper off as the night goes on, with most of the snow being out of north-central and central Montana by midnight and northeastern Montana by 3am. Less than 4” of additional snow accumulation is expected through tomorrow morning, with the highest snow amounts expected in the mountains and along the eastern half of the Hi-Line. There are also still some WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES in effect, but these will expire at 11pm tonight for north-central and central Montana and 5am tomorrow for northeastern Montana.
We are also going to have decreasing clouds tonight and some fog may develop after midnight depending on how quickly the clearing occurs. It is also going to be slick tonight due to the additional snow that falls as well as due to the moisture from today’s precipitation freezing overnight as lows are going to be in the teens and low to mid 20s. Please use extreme caution if you are going to be traveling anywhere tonight and give yourself some extra time to get to where you need to go tomorrow.
It was also windy today, but the wind will gradually diminish from west to east as the night goes on in north-central Montana. During the first half of the night, gusts up to 40 mph will still be possible east of I-15. In northeastern Montana, the wind will gradually diminish after midnight. Until then, it will be gusty as gusts up to 45 are possible.
Tomorrow, we are going to have increasing clouds with some fog around during the morning. It is also going to be chilly tomorrow as highs are going to be in the 30s and mid to upper 20s. There is also going to be little to no wind around tomorrow.
Some light snow is then possible in central Montana, including around Helena, tomorrow night through Wednesday morning. Light snow accumulations of up to an inch or two will be possible in the lower elevations, while the mountains may receive up to 5” of snow. This snow will cause roads to be slick Wednesday morning, especially at and above mountain pass level, so please use caution when driving.
On Wednesday, we are going to have partly to mostly cloudy skies and mostly dry conditions in north-central Montana. It is also going to be chilly again on Wednesday as highs are going to be in the upper 20s, 30s, and low 40s.
A strong storm system will then impact Montana Thanksgiving into Black Friday. On Thanksgiving, we are going to have developing snow from southwest to northeast as the day goes on. Some rain will also be possible on Thanksgiving around the Helena area. Widespread accumulating snow is then likely Thursday night and Friday morning, with the snow gradually tapering off as we go through Friday. Several inches of snow is possible in the lower elevations with this storm, and this storm will cause travel impacts. Definitely keep an eye on the forecast if you will be traveling on either of these days, and consider changing your travel plans if possible.
The temperatures are also going to cool down some between these two days as highs are going to be in the 30s and low 40s on Thanksgiving and the 20s and low 30s on Black Friday.
Some more snow is then possible this weekend, but the bigger story this weekend will be the cold as some arctic air works into the state. This weekend, highs are going to be in the teens and 20s and lows are going to be in the single digits above and below zero. By far the coldest air of the season so far. Temperatures will then warm back up next week.
