Good ol' Rex Block! In meteorology a Rex Block is a weather pattern where high pressure is to the north of a low pressure. Although it sounds simple enough, this pattern is a persistent "blocking" pattern that effectively stops the forward progression of the low and high pressure. These blocks can remain in place for days causing the areas affected by them to have the same kind of weather over an extended period of time. Montana will be on the good (north) side of the block with sunshine and above average temperatures from Friday through the weekend. Meanwhile, the bad side of Rex Block will hammer Wyoming and Colorado with incredible snow. Cheyenne, Wyoming is forecasted to get 44" of snow. Estes Park, Colorado is forecasted to have 91"! Travel on interstate 25 through Wyoming and Colorado could be shut down. Keep that in mind if you planned to travel in that direction.
A sharp cold front will continue to move through Montana on Wednesday night into Thursday morning. There will be areas of light snow with a light accumulation possible along this front. Behind the front is colder air and stronger wind, with wind chills down in the 0s and 10s. This blast of cold will be brief though. Thursday's highs will be in the 30s and 40s, but skies will be mostly sunny by afternoon. The real warm-up begins on Friday with highs in the 40s and 50s. Skies will be sunny and the wind will be light except for north central areas where gusts could top out around 20mph. The entire weekend will be sunny and warm with highs in the 40s and 50s. The next day of unsettled weather could be Tuesday as a few snow showers, wind and cooler temperatures move throughout the state.
Have a great day.
Curtis Grevenitz
PS - Don't forget this weekend that Daylight Saving Time goes into effect on Saturday night.
