Cold, snow back temporarily

Cold and snow are back in the region — at least for a couple of days — with below-zero weather in the forecast tonight and snow predicted through Wednesday.

But, staying with the up-and-down-weather of the past year-and-a-half or more, relative warmth is expected to come back Thursday.

But the long-term prediction for the region still fits the La Niña pattern in the forecast previously, with a greater chance of colder-than-average temperatures and greater-than-average precipitation expected through March.

The pattern doesn’t guarantee colder or snowier days — the same pattern was in effect last year during a warmer- and dryer-than-normal winter — but the chance of seeing colder temperatures and higher precipitation is higher during a La Niña.

Cold then warm then cold

It has been a year of unseasonable heat — and drought — followed by periods of extreme cold, with more-than-normal precipitation at some points, followed by heat, followed by cold.

The holidays brought bitter below-zero temperatures, and some snow, but that was followed by highs getting into the 30s and 40s, as well as a high of 51 in Havre Monday.

Then temperatures started to drop again Monday night, with Havre hitting 12 degrees in the early morning and dropping to 7 degrees by midmorning.

Below zero temps were forecast for Havre tonight.

Snow hit the area in the morning, then a chance of light snow was predicted through the rest of the day…

Highs were predicted in the teens Wednesday, with lows in the single digits or a bit below zero.

But then the temperatures are expected to hit the 30s again Thursday and be back in the 40s by Saturday and into early next week.

But if the La Niña prediction is right, temperatures likely will be getting colder again at some point in the rest of the winter.