A HIGH WIND WATCH has been issued for the East Glacier area and the Rocky Mountain Front and out across Cascade County into Judith Basin County for Wednesday through Thursday evening.
January has been snowy thus far but any arctic chill has remained in Canada or has just clipped the northeast corner of Montana. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend will see the coldest weather so far this winter. While it will be dangerously cold, the core of the arctic air will stay to the east of Montana. Much of the state will see lows dropping below 0 at the very least, but temperatures approaching -30 to -40 will be across the Dakotas. Until then, enjoy the calm before the storm. Wednesday will be windy and mild for the plains with highs in the 30s and 40s. The Helena valley will be cooler with inversions and little to no wind. Thursday will have increasing clouds and wind as the cold front approaches. Highs will be in the 40s across the plains, 30s in the valleys. The cold front will move through the state Thursday night and widespread snow is likely to develop and continue into Friday. Some light snow will continue for parts of the state into the weekend, accumulation will range from a coating up to a few inches in the lower elevations to as much as 6" in the mountains. Highs will be much colder as the arctic airmass spills throughout the state. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend will be very cold with highs ranging from the -0s to the 10s, and lows from near 0 to possibly as cold as -20. Wind chills will be well below 0 at times. While the weekend will start off mostly cloudy with some light snow, high pressure will clear out the clouds late in the weekend with mostly sunny skies. Sunday night should see the coldest temperatures with some slow warming beginning on Monday under sunny skies. Temperatures will moderate back to near normal by midweek.
Have a great day,
Curtis Grevenitz
Chief Meteorologist
