Most of Montana's towns and cities have about a 50-60% chance of a White Christmas and this year is looking like one of the dry years. It's been a mild December for most of the state. There is snow on the ground in the mountains and across northeast Montana, but it's bare ground for most of the state with little change between now and the holiday. A weak system could bring a few flakes and a few drops to parts of the state, but really what you've got now is what you're gonna get for the holiday. Christmas Eve is going to be a mostly cloudy day as a weak storm approaches Montana. Highs will be in the 40s and 50s for a lot of the state, 30s in the mountains. A little rain and mountain snow will move into western Montana late in the afternoon. Some of this will work toward Helena and Great Falls after dark. The storm does not have much moisture and is falling apart as it moves through the state but Christmas Eve night into early Christmas morning a little light snow will fall in the higher elevations with a few raindrops in the lower elevations. Christmas morning will be mostly cloudy as the limited moisture moves out. Sunshine will increase through the morning into the afternoon. Christmas Day will turn mostly sunny, breezy and mild with highs in the 40s to near 50. A west wind will gust up to 15-20mph. Overall it will be a pleasant day. Thursday a new storm will come roaring in from the Pacific. There will be heavy snow in the mountains west of the Continental Divide but little in the lower elevations east of the Divide. It will be windy with highs in the 40s to around 50. Friday will be similar with mostly cloudy skies, windy conditions, and snow mainly in the mountains west of the Divide. Highs again will be in the 40s and 50s in the lower elevations. Travel over the mountain passes will likely entail snowy roads. Another storm will mainly hit west of the Divide on Saturday. Heavy snow will fall in the mountains but little to no precipitation will fall in the lower elevations east of the Divide. Sunday is a different story. A new storm will spread snow east of the Divide out across the valleys and plains. A light accumulation up to a couple inches is possible. Highs will be cooler in the 30s to around 40. In the final few days of 2024 next week, temperatures will get colder and snow looks more likely as winter finally settles in.
Happy Christmas Eve,
Curtis Grevenitz
Chief Meteorologist
