Rain and snow to hit region today, tonight

Some chilly, almost wintry weather is following on what felt like summer in the past week, with a chance of snow on the plains and almost guaranteed snowfall in the mountains tonight.

National Weather Service reports that a low-pressure system has moved into the area, bringing with it cooler temperatures and precipitation.

“Potential amounts (of snowfall) over the plains are uncertain at this time, as temperatures will mostly hover around freezing; however, mountain snowfall amounts will generally be in the 2- to 4-inch range,” a notice on the Great Falls National Weather Service site said.

Most of the rainfall will be today and tonight, with areas having a slight chance of snow on the plains and the forecast giving a 90 percent to 100 percent chance in parts of the Bear Paw Mountains and Little Rocky Mountains.

Rain had been falling overnight, with Weather Service reporting nearly a fifth-of-an-inch recorded at the Havre City-County Airport by 10 a.m., and more than a half-inch of rain falling at a reporting station on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.

Areas have a slight chance of snow overnight, with Inverness and Havre listed at a 20 percent to 30 percent chance of snow, with less than half-an-inch of accumulation expected. Between Inverness and Havre and Havre and Big Sandy, little chance of snow is expected. Along U.S. Highway 2 to Chinook and Harlem, little snow accumulation is expected, although they are on the edge of the higher snow expectations over the Bear Paws and Little Rockies.

Weather Service predicts precipitation in the area to mainly be between a half-inch and .8 inches, although some locations could receive more than an inch including portions of Blaine and Fergus Counties and in the southwest portion of Montana.

No flood watches or warnings are in effect for this part of Montana, but a flood watch is in effect from west of Roundup to Harlowton south to east of Bozeman to the Montana-Wyoming border, and from Missoula to south of Hamilton with a flood warning in effect for Missoula.

The precipitation is expected to trickle off by late Saturday, although a chance of rain is in the Weather Service forecast for this area through next week.

Temperatures — which had highs in the 70s and even 80s in the last week — are expected to stay cooler for the next week, with highs in the 40s and 50s and lows dropping near and even slightly below freezing.