Brutal cold winds forecasted for Western Montana

The National Weather Service in Missoula warns that the next winter storm to impact the Northern Rockies region will present multiple threats over the course of several days.

This storm system will bring strong winds and arctic cold air out of Canada, flooding areas west of the Continental Divide.

Tonight through Monday evening, Feb. 3, light snow initially will become more widespread overnight, with some mountain locations experiencing moderate snow at times.

Valley locations generally will see anywhere from a trace to 3 inches. West Glacier, the Seeley-Swan and a few other valleys could see 3-6 inches by Monday night. Mountains passes are expected to see 6 to 10 inches, making travel conditions difficult.

Northeast winds will be developing across the West Glacier region about midnight tonight, becoming quite strong and expanding across the remainder of western Montana and parts of north-central Idaho by Monday morning.

Blowing snow and reduced visibilities will pose the next major impact. Wind speeds of 20 to 30 mph, with higher gusts, will impact Western Montana, with lesser wind speeds of 10 to 20 mph across Idaho.  

The combination of strong northeast winds and the intrusion of arctic air will produce some pretty brutal wind chill values Monday into Tuesday morning.

Pets and livestock will become quite vunerable to this extreme cold. School-bound childern and commuters should be prepared for wind chill values in the 15 below zero to 25 below zero range. Communities exposed to the strongest gaps winds could see wind chills near 30 below zero.

While the snow and eventually the winds taper off, the unusually cold air mass will remain over western Montana through the week. For more informtion, visit online at www.weather.gov/missoula.