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.
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 25 and 45 mph, and wind gusts will be between 60 and 80 mph, with the strongest wind gusts along the Rocky Mountain Front. This 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 also easily blow away with winds this strong, so make sure you tie them down or bring them inside before you go to bed tonight.
Here is the detailed forecast:
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 5” 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.
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. 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 50 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 2” of snow, and there will be some areas that receive over 6” of snow. This snow will lead to difficult travel, especially since a flash freeze is possible before the snow begins to accumulate.
Thursday will also 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 little wind, but 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.
