Valley snow in forecast for Sunday

A cold-weather system is expected to finally bring seasonal temperatures and snow to Northwest Montana by the end of this weekend, according to the National Weather Service in Missoula.

Agency meteorologist Dan Zumpfe said the Flathead Valley could see one to two inches of snow beginning Sunday afternoon, with up to three inches falling by the time the system peters out Monday night.

“Valley roads will start being impacted and covered by snow and ice at that time,” Zumpfe said Wednesday. “If you’ve been putting off snow tires and if you’ve been putting off getting back into the mindset of wintertime driving, it’s coming soon.”

Forecasters are expecting a high temperature of 38 degrees on Monday — still below the average high temperature of 36 degrees this time of year, but a return to normal after a month that has averaged about 7 degrees above average, Zumpfe said.

No significant accumulation is expected until Sunday night, but snow could start sticking to roadways during the day. Zumpfe added that more snow could be coming later in the week.

“Overall, it looks like there’s just going to be a lot more snow-filled weather systems in the next week,” he said.