A HIGH WIND WARNING is in effect for western and southern portions of north-central Montana from 8pm/12am tonight until 6pm/8pm Friday.
A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is in effect for the Rocky Mountain Front until 6pm Friday.
The wind was a lot calmer today than it was yesterday, although it was still breezy in some areas. The wind will pick back up as we go through tonight with widespread windy conditions expected later tonight and tomorrow morning. The wind will then gradually diminish as we go through tomorrow afternoon/evening. Sustained winds of 15-35 mph are expected, and wind gusts up to 60 mph are possible out across the plains, while wind gusts up to 75 mph are possible along the Rocky Mountain Front. This will be a normal high wind event for Montana, but some isolated damage is still possible.
Here is the detailed forecast:
Lows tonight will range from the single digits in northeastern Montana to the 30s in central Montana. These lows will occur early on tonight, with rising temperatures throughout the night. Tomorrow’s highs will be in the 40s and upper 30s, but these highs will occur during the morning, with falling temperatures throughout the day. By sunset tomorrow, most locations will be in the teens and 20s.
Snow is likely along the Divide tonight and there will be a mixture of rain and snow along the Rocky Mountain Front and around the Helena area tonight, with precipitation initially starting out as snow but switching over to rain in the lower elevations as the temperatures warm up. In north-central Montana, a lot of locations will be dry tonight, but there will be some scattered rain/freezing rain/snow along the eastern half of the Hi-Line, especially after midnight. We are also going to have mostly cloudy skies tonight, with the cloud cover decreasing some after midnight.
A mixture of snow and rain is likely around the Helena area tomorrow morning, with the precipitation tapering off and the skies beginning to clear out during the afternoon. Precipitation will initially be in the form of rain in the lower elevations, but will switchover to snow as colder air moves in. In north-central Montana, a lot of locations will continue to remain dry tomorrow, but there will be a few rain/snow showers around, mainly along the Rocky Mountain Front, in northeastern Montana, and in southern portions of north-central Montana. Partly to mostly sunny skies are also expected tomorrow in north-central Montana.
Above mountain pass level in the Rockies, up to 10” of snow is possible. At pass level in the Rockies and in some of the mountain ranges around Helena, up to 6” of snow is possible. Below pass level in the Rockies, in the mountains around Helena, and in the valleys around these mountains, up to 3” of snow is possible. In the lower elevations in north-central Montana, less than 1” of snow is expected in locations that do see snow (most of us will receive no snow accumulation). A light glaze of ice is also possible along the eastern half of the Hi-Line later tonight and tomorrow morning, so roads will be slick.
On Saturday, we are going to have mostly sunny skies with just a couple isolated snow showers around. It is also going to be cool on Saturday as highs are going to be in the 30s and low 40s (mid to upper teens and low 20s in northeastern Montana), and it will continue to be gusty in some areas with sustained winds of 10-30 mph.
The cloud cover will increase on Sunday with a few rain and snow showers possible around the Helena area during the evening as the next disturbance begins to approach our area. It is also going to feel nice outside on Sunday as highs are going to be in the 40s and mid to upper 30s.
Another round of scattered rain and snow showers is expected around Helena on Monday and there will be a few rain/snow showers around in north-central Montana as well, generally in the mountains. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we are going to have mostly cloudy skies with a few isolated rain and snow showers around. Christmas Day should then be partly cloudy and dry.
It will be chilly along the Hi-Line next week as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 20s and low to mid 30s. South of the Hi-Line, it will feel nice outside next week as highs are going to be in the 30s and low to mid 40s. There is also just going to be a little breeze around next week.
