Winter's not quite over
The Daily Inter Lake
Weekend forecast: snow, wind, cold
Hang onto the coat, hat and gloves and keep those snow tires on - more winter weather is on the way for most of Montana.
Last weekend's balmy weather was an illusion of spring emerging in the Flathead Valley, with the National Weather Service forecasting "definite snow" for the valley today and Sunday and predicting lower-than-normal temperatures and more snow well into next week.
The change was led by winds gusting as strong as 30 mph in the Flathead on Friday.
A cold upper-level pressure system was expected to move into Montana from British Columbia, bringing with it "moderate to heavy wet snow," especially over the mountains of Western Montana.
An advisory warning of blowing snow was issued for the West Glacier area from 3 p.m. today through noon Sunday. The weather service predicts 3 to 7 inches of snow plus winds of 15 to 25 mph causing drifting.
"U.S. 2 between Hungry Horse and Marias Pass and the Polebridge area will be affected," the weather service said.
In the Flathead Valley, from 2 to 7 inches of snow are expected from this evening into Sunday, with blowing and drifting predicted.
The heaviest snowfall amounts are forecast for the Columbia Falls area.
Snow showers and low temperatures are expected to remain in the Flathead Valley well into next week. The forecast calls for temperatures to be from 20 to 30 degrees colder than average for this time of year.
East of the Continental Divide, the weather will be worse this weekend.
A winter storm warning is in effect there, with as much as 2 feet of snow on mountain ranges east of the Continental Divide, and from 6 to 12 inches on the plains.
"This will make travel very hazardous or impossible," according to the forecast.
East-side winds are expected to be from 15 to 30 mph. "The combination of heavy, wet snow and gusty winds will stress young livestock and also has the potential to cause local power outages," the weather service said.
Because of the weather, the Montana Youth Soccer Association announced Friday that all games across the state are canceled today. Soccer teams from the Flathead had been scheduled to play today in Great Falls, Helena, Missoula and Kalispell.
The weather forecast also forced the postponement of today's Christmas in April cleanup day sponsored by United Way. Work will be rescheduled on April 26.
Local high school sports teams competing elsewhere headed home Friday to try to beat the storm.
Today's girls track meet in Great Falls was canceled Friday at noon, according to Frank Jobe, Flathead High School activities director. That meant track teams from Flathead and Glacier returned home Friday.
Today was supposed to be the second day of the Helena Invitational tennis tournament, but today's sessions were canceled. Glacier and Flathead girls and boys tennis teams competed Friday in Helena before heading home later Friday.
On the Web:
www.wrh.noaa.gov/mso