MISSOULA — The changes we have been talking about all week are moving in Saturday.
Late morning/early afternoon a cold front will move through.
This will bring much colder air, precipitation, and wind to Western Montana.
Rain will fall in valleys Saturday as highs top out in the mid to low 50s.
Wind gusts will make it very choppy across Flathead Lake, and a Lake Wind Advisory is in place Saturday afternoon- Saturday evening.
A Red Flag Warning is also in effect for Philipsburg other areas around the Sapphire Mountains due to relative humidity being low before the cold front moves through with wind gusts being as high as 40 MPH. Any fires that do start will spread quickly.
Saturday night, temperatures drop to the mid to low 30s.
As isolated showers remain in this cold overnight forecast, we can expect snow levels to drop from the peaks of mountains Saturday afternoon to about 5,000’ Saturday night/Sunday morning.
This includes areas like Georgetown Lake and most Western Montana passes.
We can expect to hit some slick spots early during the Saturday overnight hours and early hours of Sunday.
Please take it slow if you are driving around higher elevation valleys or passes during this time.
Colder air (highs in the 50s) and rain remain in our forecast through the end of the weekend and beginning of next week.
