MISSOULA — After a dry weekend, snow returns to western Montana Monday. The most steady snow will develop this afternoon and evening with Winter Weather Advisories in place across western Montana. The highest snow amounts will be seen for locations along the Montana/Idaho border and the Glacier Region. Troy, Trout Creek, Eureka and West Glacier could see around 3"-to-7" of snow. With warmer air moving in, some valley locations may see a rain/snow mix this afternoon before turning to all snow tonight. This will be possible for the Mission, Missoula and Bitterroot Valleys.
By this evening, the Flathead, Mission, Missoula and Bitterroot valleys will see a better chance for accumulating snow with a few inches possible by Tuesday morning.
Scattered light snow showers continue Tuesday with highs in the 20s to low 30s.
Tuesday night, an arctic air mass will move through, this will bring widespread accumulating snow back to western Montana and drop temperatures as well. Expect highs in the teens and twenties behind the front Wednesday.
Thursday through Friday, we are watching for a potential strong storm to impact western Montana. An Atmospheric River from the Pacific Ocean will bring in high amounts of moisture. Mountains are expected to see heavy snow with this event. Widespread accumulating snow will develop in valleys as well. The one thing to keep an eye on with this system is temperatures. As is the case with atmospheric rivers, milder air will move in creating the set up for rain and snow showers in the valleys. This looks to be most likely from the Mission Valley south into the Missoula and Bitterroot Valleys Thursday night into Friday. However, even with that set up, we are still watching the potential for a good snow event for all valleys as well. We'll keep you updated on this as we move through the week.
