Winter weather advisory hits area

National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory starting at midnight through noon Friday for north-central and central Montana, including the Hi-Line from Browning to Chester.

A Weather Service forecast says a moist, low-pressure system moving into Montana tonight will combine with cooler temperatures coming in from Canada, bringing likely snow accumulation for the western part of the Hi-Line south through Cascade, Meagher and Judith Basin counties.

The advisory for Browning to Chester says rain will change to snow after midnight tonight, with up to 5 inches falling on the plains and up to 10 inches falling in the mountains. The heaviest snowfall will be during the “Friday morning commute,” the advisory says, and will cause stress to young livestock and possibly cause power outages due to the wet, heavy snow.

Winds are forecast to be from the north at 15 mph to 25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph.

The advisory also includes Chouteau County including Big Sandy, with the forecast nearly identical with slightly lesser steady winds predicted, 10 mph to 20 mph from the northwest with gusts up to 35 mph.

East of Chester on the Hi-Line, the forecasts from Rudyard to Harlem call for rain tonight with winds up to around 20 mph and gusts up to about 30 mph with up to three-quarters of an inch of rain. Friday’s forecast calls for rain and north winds up to around 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph and up to a half-inch more of rain, with sunshine in the forecast for Saturday.