MISSOULA — Arctic air will continue to push into all of western Montana through the day Wednesday with brief bursts of light snow, blowing snow and cold wind chills.
The coldest temperatures are expected tonight into Thursday with temperatures falling to well below zero for all of western Montana. Waking up Thursday morning temperatures will range from 20 to 40 below zero with wind chills even colder. High temperatures will stay below zero for all of Thursday.
Our next system brings snow showers back Friday for all of western Montana snow amounts of 1"-to-4" will be possible by Friday evening.
The set up for the Christmas weekend looks like this. Warmer and moist air will begin moving in from the Pacific Ocean. However, with how cold temperatures have recently been, it will take a while for the cold air to leave, especially valley locations. This leads to snow, sleet or freezing rain through the Christmas weekend and even into the start of next week. Be prepared for very difficult travel to continue.
By the middle of next week, all the cold air will be gone leaving mild and wet weather in place. This means a mix of rain and snow for the valleys with snow continuing for the mountains.
