Weather Service issues blizzard warning
Columbia Falls and the Bad Rock Canyon are under a blizzard warning for late tonight, Thursday, Feb. 27, through Friday and into Saturday as another strong arctic front is expected to bear down on the area.
Snowfall totals are expected to be fairly moderate —two to four inches — but winds will be sustained between 20 and 30 mph with local gusts as high as 60 mph, the National Weather Service is warning.
“Right now, the primary areas of concern are the gaps through the Continental Divide, the northern Flathead Valley and the Missoula Valley, where winds are expected to be at their strongest,” the weather service reported. “A ‘Blizzard Watch’ has been issued to highlight these areas. Road crews may have a difficult time keeping up drifting snow and clogged roadways.”
Wind conditions are expected to worsen Friday night into Saturday, with bitter cold. Highs Friday will be in the single digits, and lows will drop to 9 to 16 below zero.
Saturday is expected to be even worse, with highs about 3 below zero and lows dipping down to 13 to 20 below zero.
“As colder and colder air settles in over Montana this weekend, wind chill values of 20 below to 40 below zero are possible,” the weather service reported.
Initially these dangerous wind chills will be confined to the Continental Divide on Thursday night and Friday, but as cold air surges further west, most of western Montana will feel the effects of dangerously cold wind chill values.
Temperatures are forecasted to moderate slightly by Sunday and into Monday. Sunday will see highs in the single digits and Monday in the teens to about 20.
The heaviest snow from this system is expected to stay south of the Flathead region, near the Interstate 90 boundary. A storm last week dumped as much as two feet of snow in parts of the Bitterroot Valley south of Missoula.
Newborn livestock will be particularly vulnerable for these extreme conditions, which are expected to persist through the weekend. For the most part, north-central Idaho will be spared from the extremely cold wind chills.
For more information, visit online at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/climate/?wfo=mso.