A WINTER STORM WARNING is in effect for Sunday into Monday for most of Montana. No George Clooney isn’t going to be driving a ship up 80 foot waves, but the right conditions are coming together for a frigid snowstorm here in Montana. Arctic high pressure is diving southward with subzero temperatures, which will creat an upslope flow against the mountains. At the same time, a “pineapple express” of moisture coming in from the Pacific will hit the polar airmass. Snow will cold and fluffy, accumulating quickly. And the pressure gradient between arctic high and low pressure will create a north wind combined with the frigid temperatures to drop wind chill values down to near -40. As the high and low run into each other, they will slow down resulting in several days of snow and severe cold. Saturday will still be quiet and mild, but BIG changes will occur overnight Saturday into Sunday morning. Many will wake up to snow and temperatures around 0, if not below 0 on Sunday morning. Snow will fall across the state all day on Sunday accumulating more than 6″ through the day. Temperatures will remain between -10 and 10 for highs. Snow will continue into Monday. Periods of snow, temperatures as cold as -20, and wind chills as cold as -40 will persist through Tuesday into Wednesday. Temperatures will moderate somewhat into the 0s and 10s above zero by Thursday.
There is a COLD ADVISORY for newborn livestock, as danger will be moderate to extreme for these animals through Tuesday.
Stay warm and be careful.
Curtis Grevenitz
