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Browning digging out after winter storm drops 4 feet of snow

Browning Snow
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BROWNING — Over the weekend a large portion of Montana was walloped by a very early snowstorm and the first weekend of fall was more like the dead of winter.

The small town of Browning is digging out after the early winter storm dumped a record breaking four feet of September snow.

Mario McCullough had to dig an escape route just to try and get out of his house.

Just a week after the official end of summer, many in Montana woke up on Saturday to winter.

Most the state was blasted with more than a foot of snow, forcing Gov. Steve Bullock to declare a state of emergency after thousands lost power.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Don Britton says Great Falls got more than 19" of snow, breaking a three-day record that was set in 1934

High winds and heavy snow downed trees and covered roads, causing white-out conditions and making driving treacherous.

Lew Savick rode it out in the Red Cross shelter he was managing in Browning, "you didn't want to be out in it, cause of hypothermia and frostbite."

The storm is over and the sun's out, but they've still got a lot of digging to do.