An EXTREME COLD WARNING has been issued for the Butte-Blackfoot region for Sunday into Monday.
A COLD WEATHER ADVISORY has been issued for northeast and northwest Montana, and the Bitterroot Valley area.
A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY has been issued for most of central and western Montana.
Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend will have the coldest weather of winter so far with areas of light snow. Most of the Montana will have periods of light snow, overnight temperatures well below 0, and wind chills as cold as -30 to -40. This is a dangerously cold airmass but we should avoid setting record cold temperatures as the worst of the cold will move to the east of Montana through the Dakotas and Great Lakes. 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 this weekend as the arctic airmass filters in. 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 -30. Wind chills will be near -30 to -40 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 by the holiday on Monday. 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 but another round of snow is likely on Wednesday and then again Friday. Make sure to check on your neighbors and pets, and if you need to travel have a winter survival kit with you. Roads are snow-covered and icy, and will stay that way through the weekend.
Stay warm,
Curtis Grevenitz
Chief Meteorologist
