Area sees record cold set two weeks into spring

It's Havre. So of course the town breaks a record related to cold, even though spring began more than two weeks ago.

Wednesday night and Thursday morning, Havre set its all-time low for the day when the temperature at the Havre-Hill County Airport fell to a chilling -11. According to the National Weather Service in Great Falls, that beat the old record for the same date. The record low for April 2 was set in 1936 at -8 degrees.

The area also received some national recognition Thursday morning. Again, according to the NWS in Great Falls, Rocky Boy reported a low of -14 which was the coldest temperature reported in the lower 48 states Thursday morning. The low was also a record for Rocky Boy.

Hill, Blaine, Liberty and Cascade counties were among the coldest temperatures Thursday morning. Turner reached a low of -8, while Fort Belknap, Gildford, Rudyard and Chinook all reported lows of -6. Loma, Kremlin and the city limits of Havre all reported lows of -3.

And the cold isn't going to disappear. Havre’s forecast low was 10 degrees, but with clearing skies, the 12-hour low was 2 degrees, although Weather Service warned of the potential for more below-zero temperatures.

Today's high in Havre is forecast for 44 degrees, though the NWS warned that, because of fresh snowpack on the ground, Havre could see highs for today climbing only above freezing, especially in the early part of the day.

Of course, snow was once again the talk of the area earlier in the week. According to local reports, Havre received just less than 4 inches of snow from Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Snow was reported to be heavier in the Bear Paw Mountains, but across north-central Montana, snow totals didn't reach their forecast amounts of 4-6 inches in most areas. Despite the snow and colder-than-average temperatures, parts of Hill and Blaine County are still under a flood advisory due to melting snow in Canada.

The NWS is predicting more springlike temperatures to return in the coming days, mixed with some slight chances of precipitation. Tonight is calling for a low of 21 with a 30 percent chance of a snow shower, while Saturday's high is set at 39 degrees and Sunday's high is set for 47. Both days, southwest winds are excepted to pickup. The forecast also calls for highs to return to the 50s next week into next weekend, with minimal chances of precipitation.

Tuesday's snowstorm, and the cold that followed wasn't the only big story either. An earthquake that rattled many parts of Idaho, Montana and Washington hit just as snow started falling all over the Pacific Northwest Tuesday night.

According to the United States Geological Survey, the quake registered 6.5 on the scale and was centered near Stanley, Idaho, which was about 240 miles east of Yellowstone National Park. The quake was one the same fault line as the famous 1959 quake in Yellowstone. But while much of western Montana felt the shaking, including all the way in Great Falls, the temblor didn't make it to Havre, like the 2018 Lincoln Quake did.