MISSOULA — Light snow and breezy winds Tuesday with highs around the region topping out in the 30s. Winds gusts today will be around 15-25 mph.
Wednesday will see highs back in the 40s with scattered valley rain/snow along with mountain snow. Then things really begin to pick up Wednesday night.
The first of a series of Pacific systems will move through Wednesday night into Thursday morning bringing heavy mountain snow, valley rain/snow and strong winds. Wind gusts in the mountains during this time will be in the 60-80 mph range with 50-65 mph winds in the valleys. Downed trees and power outages will be likely during this time frame.
After this our attention will shift to the heavy mountain snow. This will be a long duration event with snow not really coming to an end until Saturday. By this time snow amounts will be measured in feet for all mountain ranges. Factor the snow in with the winds very difficult back country conditions will set up with Blizzard conditions possible.
The passes that look to get hit the hardest with this system are Marias, Lolo and Lost Trail Passes where Winter Storm Watches are already in place through Saturday.
Stay tuned for additional updates over the next few days.
