Winter returning to north-central Montana

Old Man Winter really hasn't been seen much in north-central Montana since November, but it appears he is back and likely will stay a while.

After a rainstorm Tuesday temperatures dropped and snow was falling in the area this morning, with more in the forecast and temperatures expected to continue to drop.

"This is an appetizer for what we are going to get," National Weather Service meteorologist Francis Kredensor in Great Falls said this morning.

After a high of 64 degrees in Havre Tuesday - 34 degrees warmer than the normal high but still not a record, it hit 67 degrees Feb. 2, 1962 - the temperature hit 19 degrees by 5:42 this morning. It continued to drop, and the station at the Havre City-County Airport reported 15 degrees by 10 a.m.

The forecast from National Weather Service predicts a low of 10 degrees in Havre tonight, then warming back up a bit, with the forecast for Thursday predicting a high of 37 degrees, but that is in the start of a winter storm watch for the area.

Kredensor said the plains are likely to get 1 to 4 inches of snow through Friday night, with the snow tapering off after that, and the Bear Paw Mountains likely to receive 4 to 8 inches.

The winter warnings are heavier to the west, with Liberty County on the edge of a storm warning, and taper off farther east, with Blaine County on the edge of a less-severe winter storm watch that includes Hill and Chouteau counties.

Kredensor said temperatures are expected to stay low through the weekend and early next week, although predictions after that are less definite.

The highs Friday through Monday are expected to be in the single digits to teens or low 20s, with lows dropping into single digits or below zero.

By Monday and Tuesday, the forecast predicts highs in the single digits and lows in the single digits below zero with some areas expected to see lows close to 15 below.

Snowfall in the area is expected to be done by the end of the weekend, with Kredensor saying the new snowfall is likely to be mostly over by Saturday morning.

A mild winter so far

This follows what has, so far, been an extremely mild winter.

The region saw snow in the fall, with Havre recording 19 inches in October and November, but then the winter weather stopped, including the second-lowest amount of snow for Havre in recorded weather history for December.

Kredensor was confirming the data, but the only winter recording less snow for Havre in December was 2001, with no snow on record.

This December, the station at the city-county airport recorded .7 inches.

And it recorded no measurable snow in January, just a trace, Kredensor was checking records to see if that was a new low for snow in Havre.

The temperatures also were well above-average, with Tuesday's high of 64 in Havre following highs of 57 Monday and 49 Sunday, with the normal value 31 degrees.

The warmth was prevalent through December and January, bringing worries, along with the dryness accompanying it, of drought conditions coming to the region.

The region is listed as being in abnormally dry conditions on the latest state drought monitor map.