BOZEMAN – A deep trough of Low-pressure is currently sitting over the Northern and Central Rockies producing unseasonably chilly temperatures and scattered snow showers over SW Montana.
A powerful storm system is spinning up into the Dakotas with widespread areas of heavy snow and blowing snow stretched out from Salt Lake City, UT to Bismark, ND. There are numerous Winter Storm Warnings and Blizzard Warnings in these regions through Thursday morning.
This storm is clipping the far SE corner of Montana and much of eastern Wyoming with snow and blowing snow. The impacts are much less severe over SW Montana but there are areas of snow especially over mountain passes and icy road conditions are likely through Wednesday morning.
A sudden change in the pattern is coming by the end of the week through the weekend and into early next week. Temperatures reach the 30s Wednesday but could hit the 60s for some by Sunday.
This rapid temperature increase will produce a sudden snowmelt of lower and mid-level snowpack causing potential flooding issues by early next week.
Overland flooding is possible, but all the snowmelt water will fill ditches, creeks, streams, and some river systems. If you had flooding issues in the past with this type of rapid warm up, it is likely you could see a similar event late this weekend into early next week.
