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Wintry travel impacts coming this weekend into next week

Posted at 6:03 PM, Oct 18, 2019
and last updated 2019-10-18 20:03:03-04

BOZEMAN – Next round of rain/snow and wind will roll into Idaho and Montana tonight into Saturday morning.

Colder air will dig into the region and lower snow levels to as low as 4,500’ by Sunday morning. Best chances for accumulating snow should be around 5,500’. Most, if not all, mountain passes will see periods of rain/snow Saturday afternoon and all snow by Saturday evening into Sunday morning.

Be prepared for wintry travel impacts this weekend with wet roads turning icy and could be snow covered at times with areas of blowing snow.

After this system moves out by Sunday afternoon several other pacific storms will pass through the state beginning Sunday evening through Wednesday of next week. Wintry travel impacts are likely as each system passes through the state especially for mountain passes both west and east of the divide.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY

The National Weather Service has a WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY up for far western Montana from 9 am Saturday to 9 am Sunday.

Lookout and Lolo mountain passes could see 6” – 12” of snow according to NWS office in Missoula. Wind gusts at times could reach 30 to 40 mph. Snow levels could fall down to 4,000’ by Sunday morning.

The National Weather Service has also issued a WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY from Great Falls to Bozeman to West Yellowstone, inside Yellowstone National Park and for far eastern Idaho Saturday 9 am to Sunday at 9 am.

Snow accumulations above 5,500’ of 4” – 8” is likely and higher mountain peaks could see over a foot of new snow. This includes Bozeman Pass, Targhee Pass, Raynolds Pass, West Yellowstone, Battle Ridge Pass.

Wind gusts between 20 to 40 mph are possible at times with this storm and could produce areas of blowing snow Saturday into Sunday.

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I will be updating storm impacts and forecasts this weekend frequently on the KBZK STORMTracker Weather mobile app. Download it for free.