'Pineapple express' to deliver more snow to Flathead
Snow covers a vehicle in Whitefish in this file photo. (Matt Baldwin/Whitefish Pilot)
Several days of persistent snow in the valleys of Western Montana is on tap for later this week as a “pineapple express” develops off the Pacific coast.
The National Weather Service in Missoula says the atmospheric river will usher in heavy and wet snow, with several feet possible in the mountains between Wednesday and Saturday.
The Weather Service on Tuesday said an “impressive plume of warm, subtropical moisture” will move onshore Thursday morning and spread across Idaho and Montana through Saturday. Temperatures will start off cold, allowing for a light and fluffy snow to accumulate. Warmer air arrives Thursday night into Friday, which will change the snow density.
Up to 3 inches is possible in the Flathead Valley Thursday, with another 3 to 5 inches on Thursday night and an additional 3 to 5 inches on Friday.
Another cold front will sweep through the region on Saturday and mark the end of the heavy precipitation.
High temperatures this week will be in the 20s with lows in the teens.
The storm is predicted to impact locations on both sides of the Continental Divide.
The National Weather Service in Billings says up to a foot could fall in the state’s largest city, with temperatures there falling well below zero.
Travel will be “difficult to impossible” during the storm, the Weather Service in Billings warns.