The worst of the snow and wind are over, but the temperatures and wind chills continue to drop. More than 4 FEET of snow has fallen in some of the mountains, and wind gusts topped 50-80mph in some areas. There may be a few more inches of snow and some wind gusts up to around 30mph still but now it's all about the cold. The arctic airmass is spilling into the state and as the temperature drops, so does the wind chill. Ambient air temperatures will drop below 0, but the wind chill will be between -20 to -40 over the next couple of days. Areas of light snow will continue through the night and through Wednesday. Wednesday will be a very cold, cloudy day with a light snow that typically falls in these arctic airmasses. Highs will be in the -0s to 0s, with wind chill values between -20 to -40. If travelling, make sure to have winter survival gear. Areas of light snow will continue on Thursday with mostly cloudy skies and highs in the -0s to 0s, lows in the -10 to -20 range. Friday will be partly cloudy with some warmer air beginning to move into southwest Montana. Highs there will be in the 10s and 20s, with northeast Montana still below 0. Saturday will be partly cloudy to mostly sunny with warmer temperatures in the 20s and 30s. Sunday a chinook wind will develop and most of the state will top out in the 30s and 40s with strong wind over the plains and Continental Divide. Some snow showers are likely to return Sunday evening with a cold front, but most accumulation should be limited to the mountains. There is a good chance of light snow for Montana next Tuesday into Wednesday.
Stay warm,
Curtis Grevenitz
Chief Meteorologist
