A WINTER STORM WARNING has been issued for most of central and western Montana for Friday through Saturday.
A WINTER STORM WATCH has been issued for parts of the Hi-Line and southern Montana for Friday and Saturday. This will likely be upgraded to a WINTER STORM WARNING.
A record setting storm will hit Montana over the next few days. Snow accumulations will be significant, but record cold will make for dangerous conditions. Travel will be hazardous through Friday night and most of Saturday. Please use caution if you need to travel or be outside, otherwise it's best to play it safe and stay close to home through this storm.
Snow will break out across the state through Friday afternoon and evening. The snow will be heavy at times and accumulate quickly. Temperatures on Friday will only top out in the 10s and 20s. Snow will be heavy at times through Friday night and Saturday. Very cold air for this time of year will ooze into the state, Saturday's highs will only be in the 10s for most of Montana. The combination of wind and cold temperatures will create wind chill values well below zero. The wind will also blow the snow around, reducing visibility for those that are traveling. Snow will gradually taper off through Saturday afternoon and evening. Arctic high pressure will continue to move in for Saturday night into Sunday. Temperatures will bottom out between 0 and -15 by Sunday morning. Sunday will be a mainly sunny day with high pressure right overhead, but temperatures will only max out in the 10s. Record cold daily maximum and minimum temperatures will likely be set Saturday, Saturday night, Sunday and Sunday night.
Next week, a chinook wind will slowly warm temperatures up across the plains. By the middle of the week, highs will warm into the 40s and 50s. Valley locations will likely experience inversions which will lock colder temperatures into these locations. Overall, conditions will return to more typical weather for the end of October.
Tune into KTVH news for updates to this major winter storm.
Curtis Grevenitz
Chief Meteorologist
