MISSOULA — A cold front is set to bring another round of cold air to western Montana today through the end of the week.
Before the cold front arrives, valleys in west-central and southwest Montana will see rain showers while valleys in northwest Montana could see a rain/snow mix.
As the cold front moves through rain will start to change over to snow late this afternoon and evening. 4"-to-8" looks likely for Marias, Lookout and Lolo passes. For all other locations, a general slushy half inch to 1 inch will be possible. The Seeley/Swan region could see 1"-to-3" of slushy snow by early Thursday morning.
Another item to watch will be the winds. As the front moves through expect gusty winds to develop. The strongest winds will be in northwest Montana from the Flathead Valley east. Gusts of 30-to-40 mph will be possible in these locations by late afternoon and evening. All other locations can expect gusts around 25-to-30 mph as the front moves through.
We will see a brief dry period set up Thursday, however, it will be cold with highs only in the 30s. Starting Friday and lasting through the weekend, another and stronger system will bring another shot of cold air to the northern Rockies.
This system will also bring more widespread snow to all elevations. Details are still coming together, however, as of now, snow showers look to be most widespread in west-central and southwest Montana Friday afternoon into Saturday morning with several inches possible. The mountains during this time could see snow amounts of around a foot.
Very and potential record cold air will also impact the northern Rockies this weekend. Highs Saturday and Sunday will only top out in the 20s as lows drop into the single digits. Wind chill values will be below zero as well.
Continue to check in with KPAX over the next several days as more details come together.
