Heavy snow moves in as arctic air retreats
Ian Bartling and David Steele ice skate across the surface of Flathead Lake's Somers Bay as steam fog rises off the lake on Saturday, Jan. 13. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
The records kept falling Monday as a stubborn arctic blast refused to retreat north.
The weather station at Glacier Park International Airport on Monday registered a temperature of minus 26 at 6:55 a.m., clipping the previous record low for the date of minus 25 set in 2005. The teeth-chattering low temperature was aided by clear skies overnight.
Whitefish Mountain Resort kept its upper mountain lifts closed Monday due to dangerous wind chills of near minus 40 at the summit of Big Mountain.
Meanwhile, ice jams were possible on area rivers. The National Weather Service warned that once ice forms, water can rise quickly and cause localized flooding.
The frigid temperatures are expected to moderate Tuesday night into Wednesday with the arrival of another winter storm.
According to the National Weather Service in Missoula, forecast models have been trending toward substantial snowfall amounts, with the heaviest accumulation expected in north-central Idaho and Northwest Montana.
A winter storm watch was issued for the Flathead and Mission valleys through Thursday. Valleys across Northwest Montana have an 80-100% probability of receiving at least 8 inches of snow by Thursday.
Mountain locations could be impacted by severe driving conditions, with Marias Pass on U.S. 2 south of Glacier National Park likely to get hit with up to 2 feet of snow.
A modified arctic cold front is poised to return to Northwest Montana by late Wednesday.
“While this front would not pack the punch of this past weekend’s record breaking event, it would still bring cold temperatures and potential enhancement of snowfall,” the Weather Service stated in its Monday forecast.
Whitefish and Kalispell have around a 30% probability of sub-zero low temperatures by Thursday morning.