BOZEMAN – The weather continues to be unsettled across Montana with scattered snow squalls producing areas of light to moderate snow Thursday afternoon both west and east of the divide.
NW flow aloft will keep clouds lingering overnight with a few mountain snow showers and localized gusty winds.
The next weather maker is another Pacific storm system that will arrive first as a warm front Friday followed by a cold front on Saturday. Ahead of this storm temperatures Friday will stay above normal and surface winds will be increasing by Friday afternoon.
As the cold front moves in Saturday look for stronger surface winds to develop most east of the divide. Scattered mountain snow is likely and lower valleys could see a rain/snow mix. As the colder air moves in behind the cold front look for wet roads to become icy Saturday afternoon and evening and in high wind prone areas there could be some blowing snow issues.
A high wind watch is up across most of Montana east of the divide Saturday. Along the Rocky mountain front, Upper Yellowstone, and eastern plains peak wind gusts up to or over 60 mph are possible Friday night into Saturday.
Wind loading on higher mountain peaks and slopes will likely keep avalanche danger on the high side this week.
