BOZEMAN – Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms continued over Montana today with very little change to the overall weather pattern.
A broad trough continues to sit over the Pacific NW extending into the Northern Rockies. This pattern continues to produce scattered showers and cooler temperatures.
The upper-level Low off the NW coast will begin to migrate inland Thursday and catch up to SW Montana Thursday evening into Friday morning. This will produce a better chance for rain, snow, isolated thunderstorms and colder than normal temperatures.
Rotating bands of moisture will impact SW Montana Thursday evening into Friday. Forecast models show the Northern half of SW Montana, roughly between Butte and Bozeman, will have the best chance for moderate rain and heavy wet mountain snow.
What isn’t clear yet is how low will the snow levels fall by Friday morning. Butte could see slushy snow accumulations by Friday morning, but Bozeman will likely see rain or a rain snow mix, this could change. Mountain passes will likely see snow and difficult travel conditions Friday morning.
The good news is this storm will be gone by the weekend. A short-lived High-pressure ridge will produce a warmer and mostly dry pattern Saturday. However, the next Pacific cold front will begin to hit western Montana by Sunday afternoon and produce more cool wet weather heading into next week.
