BOZEMAN – A crazy weather pattern will impact Montana over the next 5 to 7 days. Look for huge temperature swings, several rounds of snow with a little rain mixed in, strong winds Saturday with well above normal temperatures, and a quick blast of Arctic air early next week.
Scattered snow showers will continue to pass through SW Montana Tuesday afternoon and evening but should diminish by Wednesday morning. Snow accumulations should be light this evening, but wet roads will likely become icy overnight. Wednesday morning commutes could be impacted with icy roads.
A break in the active pattern throughout the day on Wednesday and temperatures will warm up close to 40 degrees. That will greatly help road conditions.
The next round of snow will develop Wednesday evening. Valleys could see several inches of snow along with most mountain passes. This will again impact commutes for Thursday morning with snow covered and icy conditions.
Starting Friday, a much stronger SW flow aloft will begin to develop. This will push a little moisture through the region, but temperatures will begin to warm significantly by Friday afternoon. In fact, Friday night lows will be above freezing, and some areas could stay in the lower 40s by Saturday morning.
Saturday temperatures will be well above normal and could even reach record high levels. That might sound wonderful but the reason for the increasing temperatures will be increasing surface winds. Wind prone areas could see gusts over 40 mph and in high wind prone areas gusts over 60 mph are possible.
Sunday an Arctic front will begin to drop down into Montana and produce increasing rain or snow ahead of the front Sunday, turning to snow behind the front Sunday evening. Gusty winds, areas of blowing snow, bitter wind chills and a rapid temperature drop will hit SW Montana by Monday morning.
Tuesday morning lows could fall slightly below zero next week if skies clear Monday evening.
Stay up to date on the big weather pattern changes coming with the KBZK STORMTracker weather mobile app. It’s free to download.
