Weather change brings heavy snow

North-central Montana’s weather change brought more snow and cold weather than expected, although the forecast for the rest of the week remains similar to Monday’s prediction including a wind warning through Thursday.

Monday, forecasters predicted high west winds bringing warmer temperatures and snow through Tuesday night, with a predicted accumulation of up to half-an-inch of snow.

Instead, several inches had fallen in Havre by noon, and the temperatures — predicted Monday to top out in the upper 20s and drop into the teens for Tuesday — crept higher than expected, then plummeted.

National Weather Service’s reporting station at the airport west of Havre recorded a high temperature of 35 degrees, then a chillier low of minus 9 at one minute before midnight.

The station recorded four inches of snow, which stopped in the late afternoon, rather than continuing through the night.

Weather Service reports the Havre station has received 31.5 inches of snow since Dec. 1.

The forecast for the rest of the week continues to call for higher temperatures and wind, along with a chance of more precipitation.

Weather Service continues its wind warning from the Rocky Mountain Front through Blaine and Fergus counties, with winds from 30 mph to 40 mph and gusts up to 70 mph. The higher-speed winds are predicted farther west in the region.

The forecast for Havre calls for wind gusts up to 50 mph today and 40 mph tonight and Thursday.

The forecast also calls for chances of rain or snow today through Saturday night, with highs in the 30s and 40s predicted for Havre and lows in the 20s. Little snow accumulation is expected through the weekend forecast, with up to half-an-inch of accumulation expected in the forecasts for today and Thursday each.