It was a snowy, breezy, and cold Black Friday as a winter storm impacted the state. Travel has been very difficult today due to slick/snow-covered roads as well as reduced visibility from falling and blowing/drifting snow. Multiple accidents were reported due to these poor road conditions, and it is highly recommended that you do not travel anywhere this evening or tonight unless you absolutely have to.
The snow has been tapering off and lightening up over the past few hours, and the snow will continue to gradually taper off as we go through this evening and tonight. By midnight, most of the snow will be done with in central and north-central Montana and by 3am most of the snow will be done with in northeastern Montana. The bulk of the accumulating snow has already fallen, but up to an inch or two of additional accumulation is possible through tomorrow morning, generally in locations east of I-15. Cloud cover will also decrease some as we go through tonight from west to east and there may be some patchy areas of fog around tonight.
The wind will gradually diminish from west to east as we go through tonight, but in eastern portions of north-central Montana, it is going to be gusty for a majority of the night as gusts of 30-40 mph are expected, and this wind will cause there to be areas of blowing and drifting snow. It is also going to be frigid tonight as lows are going to be in the single digits above and below zero, and wind chills are going to be in the -0s and -10s. Brrrrr!
This weekend will be cold as highs are only going to be in the single digits along the Hi-Line and the teens and low to mid 20s south of the Hi-Line. Tomorrow night will be the coldest night since last winter for a lot of locations as lows are going to be in the -0s and -10s along the Hi-Line and the -0s and 0s south of the Hi-Line.
Outside of it being cold, we are actually going to have pretty nice weather this weekend with mostly sunny skies tomorrow and partly to mostly sunny skies on Sunday. There will also be some areas of fog around Saturday night and Sunday morning, and some of this fog could be dense. It is also going to be dry this weekend and there is going to be little to no wind.
Roads will continue to be slick this weekend, so please use extreme caution if you are going to be traveling anywhere. The sunshine will help to melt some of the ice/snow this weekend, but with how cold it is going to be, a lot of the ice and snow will stick around until next week.
Warmer air returns next week as highs are going to be back in the 20s and 30s Monday through Wednesday. On Monday, we are going to have partly to mostly cloudy skies and mostly dry conditions. It is also going to be breezy in some areas on Monday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph.
Another round of light to moderate snow is expected on Tuesday as a disturbance passes through the state. Right now, it looks like the lower elevations will receive between a coating and 4” of snow from this system, so it will not be as impactful as the winter storm we are dealing with right now. It is also going to be cloudy and a little breezy on Tuesday.
We are then going to have partly to mostly cloudy skies on Wednesday with some isolated snow showers around during the morning as Tuesday’s disturbance leaves the state. It is also going to be a bit breezy on Wednesday as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 20 mph.
Even warmer air works its way into Montana for the end of next week as highs on Thursday and Friday are going to be in the 30s and low to mid 40s. There are also going to be some scattered rain and snow showers around on these two days as a couple disturbances pass through the state. Breezy conditions (sustained wind speeds of 10-25 mph) are also expected on these two days.
