MISSOULA — A weak weather disturbance will bring light snow to west-central and southwest Montana Friday. Snow showers will be likely from around Polson and south. A few inches will be possible in the mountains with valleys generally seeing less than 1".
Areas north of Polson could see a few light snow showers or flurries with very little to no snow accumulation expected.
Mild and dry weather is expected this weekend and continue into Monday of next week. Expected highs in the upper 30s to low 40s Saturday and Sunday. Even warmer temperatures will develop Monday as highs reach the mid to upper 40s and even some low 50s!
This mild weather pattern looks to start to come to an end by the middle of next week as a more large scale pattern change starts to develop.
Models are showing, for the first time this winter, a large area of arctic air moving south out of Canada. By Wednesday and Thursday of next week highs will drop into the low to mid 30s then continue to drop into the upper 20s to low 30s by next weekend. Looking at the extended model data, this cold air could then stick around as we move into the middle and even end of February.
Snow chances are still not all that clear, however, this cold air will open the door for more steady and impactful snow systems to finally reach the northern Rockies. We will continue to watch and monitor this closely over the next few days, stay tuned.
