Deep freeze will slowly thaw out

The mercury is going to inch its way upward over the next few days, according to the National Weather Service.

Temperature are expected to rise slightly today and continue to climb over the weekend, meteorologist Marty Whitmore of the Weather Service’s Missoula bureau said Wednesday.

A new weather system will blow into Western Montana late in the weekend, bringing snow and slightly higher temperatures.

“This weather system that comes in Saturday and Sunday will scour out the cold air,” Whitmore said. “We’ll get back into a little bit more normal temperatures, although it will still probably be fairly cold Friday night — single digits at least.”

Daytime temperatures probably will be in the teens Friday and Saturday and in the 20s Sunday, he said.

“That’s one nice thing about weather systems in winter. The sun’s not strong enough to heat up the air, but a good weather system will scour out the cold air,” he said.

The new system will bring in enough snow to potentially affect travel at the end of the holiday weekend, he cautioned.

“It could impact people with some snow accumulations,” Whitmore said.

He anticipates some snow in the Flathead Valley today, but probably not more than an inch or so of fine, light snow.

Today’s forecast includes a high of 6 degrees in Kalispell, following the 16 below zero expected Wednesday night.

That would be the lowest Nov. 25 temperature Kalispell has ever recorded. The current record is an icy minus 14, which occurred in 1993.

Kalispell reached 11 below early Wednesday morning, far from the chilliest place in the state.

Rogers Pass east of Lincoln on Montana 200 reached minus 27 early Wednesday morning, but Pleasant Valley west of Kalispell was nearly as chilly, hitting 26 below. Olney reached 19 below early Wednesday.

Polebridge recorded minus 24 early Wednesday morning but warmed up considerably during the day.

“They actually improved pretty well; they’re up to 2 above,” Whitmore said. “It doesn’t sound that warm, but that’s a 26-degree climb during the day.”

So far the Weather Service hasn’t heard of any problems such as frozen pipes from the cold weather, Whitmore said. But if the cold air lingers, or if another cold front follows the warmer spell, ice could start to build up on small streams and rivers in the area.

“It looks like we could get some cold air filtering in by middle to late next week. If that comes in and reinforces the ice, ice is going to be building up,” he said.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.