The big chill: Forecast calls for multiple days of extreme cold
<p>Bob Walker of Whitefish clears snow from in front of his home on Kalispell Street on Tuesday.</p>
The National Weather Service is warning Northwest Montana residents to brace themselves for dangerously cold weather arriving Thursday and carrying into the weekend.
While the region already is in the grip of cold weather, another arctic air mass is expected to drop temperatures to zero degrees or lower by Thursday morning. Winds are expected to come with the temperatures that will be 15 to 25 degrees below average.
“That adds up to negative 20 to 30 degrees for wind chills ... so this is a pretty big deal,” meteorologist Jeb Kitsmiller said during a Tuesday teleconference.
Kitsmiller said the Weather Service is concerned about the potential for frostbite.
“Anyone who is going to be outside for extended periods needs to be prepared,” he said. “Travelers need to be prepared.”
People should provide shelter for pets and livestock and take care that their animals have unfrozen water.
“We haven’t really seen this kind of cold that the models are showing for at least three to four years,” Kitsmiller said.
Temperatures are expected to be in the single digits to just below zero by Friday morning. On Saturday, “the bottom could drop out,” with lows going to 10 below, Kitsmiller said.
Kitsmiller said the incoming weather is expected to bring cloud cover by Friday, but there will be only light, fine snow with no measurable accumulations.
While temperatures in the Flathead Valley dipped to zero on Jan. 13, and to 5 below on Feb. 26, 2011, the valley has not experienced a prolonged period of subzero weather for years.