BOZEMAN – A steady stream of Pacific moisture produce locally heavy snow in western Montana last night into this morning. Around Missoula snow totals were reported between 6”-14”, Hamilton around 2”, Helena around 3”.
Butte also picked mostly minor snow accumulations (no official report) from that system and Bozeman less than an inch.
The next weather makers will begin to move into Montana by Friday afternoon and evening. Ahead of a cold front winds will be increasing Thursday night through Saturday and areas of blowing snow are possible in wind prone regions.
Increasing snow will impact mountain ranges Friday and could produce areas of valley snow Saturday into Sunday. A stronger westerly flow tends to favor upslope areas along the MT/ID state line and Rocky Mountain front.
Travel impacts are likely for mountain passes along the MT/ID state line like Lookout, Lolo, Lost Trail passes in western Montana and possibly from Monida to Raynolds to Targhee passes between Lima and West Yellowstone. Yellowstone National Park could also see periods of moderate to heavy snow Friday through Sunday.
Early next week the flow aloft should shift out of the SW and that could begin to push temperatures back up closer to normal levels, in fact, a few lower 50s are possible in SW Montana by Tuesday.
