Big chill going to get chillier

Bundle up, Flathead Valley: Winter weather is here with a vengeance.

Thanksgiving week will be dominated by increasingly colder weather and record low temperatures, along with dangerous wind chills that will raise the safety stakes for hunters during the last week of the general hunting season.

“The main message is that colder temperatures and winds will be picking up,” said Peter Felsch, warning meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Missoula.

A blizzard warning is in effect today as a result of an arctic air mass that settled over most of Western Montana on Sunday.

On Monday, temperatures hovered all day around 7 to 9 degrees at Glacier Park International Airport.

But steady winds — 20 miles per hour with gusts up to 40 mph — drove wind-chill temperatures as low as 15 below zero in the Flathead Valley and even lower in other parts of Western Montana. Parts of the Flathead also got between 3 and 6 inches of snow, but snowfall is expected to taper off today, at least north of Polson.

“The main impact up there is going to be blowing snow and dangerous wind chills,” Felsch said.

The forecast calls for high temperatures today to be around 4 below zero, with wind chills 20 to 30 below zero, and temperatures dropping even more tonight, in the range of 11 to 18 below zero. The record of 15 below zero for Nov. 23 was set in 1985.

Northeast winds today are forecast to be 20 to 35 mph with gusts to 45 mph.

But it is expected to get even colder in the days to come.

“I would say both Wednesday and Thursday we are looking at low temperatures of 15 to 20 below zero and those are definitely at or near record temperatures,” Felsch said. “I look for those records definitely to be broken.”

The record lows for Nov. 24 and 25 are 14 below zero, set in 1993; for Nov. 26 the record is 5 below, set in 1985.

Felsch said things won’t start to gradually warm up until Friday.

John Vore, a veteran wildlife biologist with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, urges hunters to take extra precautions during the last week of the big game season, typically one of the most popular times to get out in the field.

“They should make sure they’ve got plenty of warm clothes, they should tell someone exactly where they are going and they should hunt with a partner,” Vore said. “They should take emergency provisions along, extra food, firemaking tools. And they should make sure that their vehicle has good tires and a good set of chains.”

He noted that the deer rut is in full swing, so many hunters probably won’t be deterred by the harsh weather.

“We Montanans are a pretty hardy lot,” he said. “Just be prepared for the cold and snow.”

Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock warns Thanksgiving holiday travelers to be particularly careful.

Over the past weekend, the Montana Highway Patrol responded to 596 vehicle crashes that caused 44 injuries and two deaths.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.