BOZEMAN – Another day of extreme cold for most of Montana. Thursday morning lows were below zero for almost the entire state with Missoula falling down to zero. Coldest morning lows occurred in central Montana with Great Falls falling to -31° below zero. Wind chill values have been around –30 to –70 below this morning in northern counties of Montana.
The National Weather continues Wind Chill Warnings and Wind Chill Advisories across the entire state except for Beaverhead county. Locally, SW Montana could see morning feels like temperatures as low as –30 to –40 below zero. That means frostbite is possible within 5 minutes on exposed skin.
Arctic High-pressure is parked over most of Montana producing the brutally cold weather pattern. Storms off the coast are forced to dive underneath the blocking ridge. The far SW corner of Montana could see some light to moderate snowfall Thursday night through Saturday and again into early next week.
Snow accumulations around 1”-4” are possible south of the I-90. There is a higher probability of moderate snow showers across Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and down into Nevada and California with this pattern.
Unfortunately, the extreme cold will continue into the weekend. In fact, below zero morning lows are likely through Monday morning for most of SW Montana.
Temperatures should begin to slowly moderate on Monday but remain below normal next week but at least above zero.
