BOZEMAN – Arctic air is back! Monday morning lows fell slightly below zero for most SW Montana valleys and extremely cold for West Yellowstone.
The Climate Prediction Centers 8 to 14 day outlook suggests this colder than normal weather pattern will linger over Montana and much Northern half of the country through the end of February into early March. They give Montana a 70% to 80% chance for colder than normal temperatures through March 3rd.
CPC precipitation outlook is calling for near to slightly above normal precipitation. They give most of Montana a 30% to 40% for near to slightly above normal precipitation especially east of the divide.
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TRAVEL HAZARDS:
The National Weather Service has a Winter Weather Advisory up for the Northern and Southern front range tonight into Tuesday evening.
The reason for the advisory is increasing surface winds with gusts to or over 35 mph. This could produce considerable blowing snow and ground blizzards with visibility under a half mile.
Areas impacted: Helena, White Sulphur Springs, Kings Hill pass, MacDonald pass, Rogers pass, Great Falls to Cut Bank.
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FLOOD WATCH:
The National Weather Service continues a FLOOD WATCH for the Jefferson River between Twin Bridges to North of Silver Star.
An ice jam formed just North of Silver Star last week and continues to back up water upstream. The river level gauge near Twin Bridges is holding around minor flood stage.
If you live along the Jefferson in the affected areas be prepared for possible flooding as the forecast calls for continued Arctic air so the ice jam is not likely to break in the short term. It’s extremely difficult to project when the ice jam will break and those downstream of Silver Star should also be monitoring the situation and be prepared for a sudden rush of water, ice and debris if the jam breaks.
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City by City Forecast:
BOZEMAN: LOW: -9°; HIGH TUESDAY: 16°. Very cold tonight and well below zero. Light snow is possible early with clearing after midnight. Light winds by early Tuesday morning could produce wind chill values -15 to -25 below zero. Tuesday partly cloudy with light winds.
BUTTE: LOW: -20°; HIGH TUESDAY: 19°. Bitterly cold tonight with lows falling close to -20 below zero. Light winds could produce wind chill values between -20 to -30 below zero by early morning. Tuesday will be partly cloudy and cold.
DILLON: LOW: -14°; HIGH TUESDAY: 18°. Cloudy early and then clearing after midnight and bitterly cold for Dillon by Tuesday morning. Light winds overnight could produce wind chill values between -20 to -30 below zero. Tuesday will be mostly sunny and cold.
WEST YELLOWSTONE: LOW: -16°; HIGH TUESDAY: 17°. Another bitterly cold night for West Yellowstone. Forecast lows are between -15 to -25 and with a light wind the feels like temperatures could be colder than -25 below zero at times. Tuesday will be mostly sunny and cold.
