Brrr: Kalispell sets record low
A snowblower is used to clear out the roads at Glacier Memorial Gardens cemetery in Kalispell on Monday morning. Cold weather is expected to linger in the Flathead this week, with lows below zero for Tuesday and Wednesday nights. (Matt Baldwin/Daily Inter Lake)
Temperatures plummeted across Montana early Tuesday morning, with some areas experiencing record-breaking lows.
Kalispell broke its record low for Feb. 20, bottoming out at minus 16 at the weather station at Glacier Park International Airport. The previous record for the date was minus 13 set in 1936.
Hungry Horse also set a record with a temperature of minus 12, edging the previous record of minus 7 set in 1957.
The coldest spot in the state was Polebridge, at the northwest corner of Glacier National Park, where the thermometer hit minus 41 early Tuesday morning — still not cold enough for a daily record.
In Olney, north of Whitefish, the low was minus 27, while residents in Seeley Lake north of Missoula woke up to minus 31.
It was minus 21 at Marias Pass on the southern edge of Glacier Park.
The push of Arctic air also brought lake effect snow to the east side of Flathead Lake between Rollins and Bigfork.
According to the Weather Service, all long-range forecasts hint toward an unseasonably cold and snowy weather pattern to finish February and welcome March.