MISSOULA — Clouds start moving into Western Montana tonight.
Temperatures overnight will be slightly warmer than the last few nights, and lows will dip into the mid to low 20s.
Tomorrow we can expect a lot more clouds to fill in across all Western Montana.
Our next winter system will enter the state from the northwest corner as it pushes south and east through the state by the end of the weekend.
A few isolated chances of light snow showers are possible late Saturday night across the Northwest with the arrival of this system, but widespread rain and snow showers are likely Sunday morning.
Since highs on Saturday and Sunday still top out in the mid to low 40s, early morning snow/rain mix on Sunday morning will turn to rain on Sunday afternoon.
By Sunday night temperatures drop below freezing once again, and any leftover precipitation on roadways will refreeze causing slick conditions across Western Montana roadways.
If you are heading to the game in Bozeman on Saturday, road conditions will not be slick, but by early Sunday morning, roadways may be icy or snow-covered especially in upper elevation passes.
Precipitation remains in the forecast Sunday through Tuesday; however, snow totals are not expected to be high with this next system.
A skiff to an inch is possible for brief amounts of time in lower elevations, but upper elevation passes will likely only see 1-3” through the beginning of next week.
The largest amount of pass snow is forecasted for Lolo Pass where we could see up to 5" of accumulation.
It will be the melting and refreezing of slush and water on road surfaces that will likely have the biggest impacts for traveling through Thanksgiving weekend.
Temperatures go from the 40s Saturday and Sunday to the 30s Monday and Tuesday before plummeting to the 20s on Wednesday and Thanksgiving Day.
Be prepared for MUCH colder than average temperatures as we head into the last days of November and first days of December.
