Wind chills drop as low as minus 38
<p>Shawna Fiedor pauses for a portrait in the cold as she makes her way through downtown Kalispell on Wednesday.</p>
Bitterly cold weather descended on Northwest Montana with a vengeance Tuesday and Wednesday.
Wind-chill values as low as 38 below zero at Kila and 36 below zero in Evergreen were reported by the National Weather Service Wednesday morning.
Marion had a wind chill of minus 29, Whitefish minus 23 and Kalispell minus 20.
As far as straight temperatures, Polebridge reached a low of minus 24 and Condon hit minus 26.
The frigid weather is expected to continue through the week, although moderating slightly day by day.
The low this morning was predicted to reach minus 20 with a high today of 6 above zero.
Tonight’s predicted low is minus 8, followed by minus 3 Friday night before a warming trend on Saturday brings the overnight low to 7 above zero.
By Monday, the Flathead Valley should be out of the deep freeze with a high of 28 degrees and low of 26 predicted.
Tuesday’s forecast promises even more hope: The mercury may finally rise above freezing and soar all the way to 35 degrees, according to Weather Service forecasts.