BOZEMAN – A cold wintry day across SW Montana with early morning lows near zero for most valleys but cold prone valleys like West Yellowstone fell to -20° below zero.
A NW flow aloft has a limited amount of moisture embedded that is producing some scattered snow showers Tuesday afternoon and early evening. These snow bands could drop a few inches of snow over mountain passes so watch for snow-covered and icy conditions tonight.
The other short-term weather hazard will be clearing skies after midnight. That will bring two weather hazards. First, patchy valley fog. Second, much colder temperatures by Wednesday morning.
Forecast lows tonight will fall below zero in Butte, Anaconda, Wisdom, Big Sky, and West Yellowstone. Cold prone valleys like Wisdom and West Yellowstone could hit the -20’s below zero tonight. Morning lows again on Thursday will likely be bitterly cold as skies remain clear.
Now the good weather news. Beginning Thursday temperatures will start climbing by the afternoon as a SW flow aloft develops and by Friday and Saturday temperatures could reach the low to mid 40’s. Nice break to look forward to in SW Montana.
A pattern change will hit again beginning Sunday afternoon as another Pacific storm rolls in and behind it another shot of colder temperatures early next week.
