Montana has experienced quite the late April weather event through the overnight and early morning hours. Heavy snowfall in mountainous areas continues to fall as the sun begins to rise over Helena. Though snow did fall during the night in Helena and Great Falls, and is visible on rooftops in both places at sunrise, the roads in valleys and low lying areas appear to be pretty much all clear. Though slick, low lying roads should not pose nearly as much as of a hazard as mountain passes are and will today. As you can see on the image attached to this article of the MacDonald Pass, heavy snow and blowing precipitation has severely inhibited vehicle travel today. Snow will continue for mountains this morning and tapers off as our low pressure system moves furher northeast this afternoon, but will still further add to the "slopfest" that already is mountain passes this morning. The low pressure system which is fueling our current was moving across southwestern Montana in an eastward direction but has now shifted to a northeasterly movement. This prompted the National Weather Service to drop the WINTER STORM WARNING for the Butte/Blackfoot regions and replace it with a WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY. Our next notable atmospheric disturbance rolls in tomorrow afternoon, and we'll be here updating you with the latest breaking weather information. Southwestern Montana should be the first to see precipitation from this low pressure system, but shower activity will remain light, with snow likely above 6000 feet. Monday another low pressure system follows the previous, but model data has yet to agree on a stable track and adjustment to snow levels throughout the day and into Tuesday. Finally after that moisure event is over, we'll pinball back to weather that actually reminds us of spring, with Wednesday highs in the 70s, and some areas could hit 80 on Thursday. As always: A cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition!
Be nice to each other.
- Trey Tonnessen -
