Warm weather in store for a while

After a topsy-turvy two months of weather, National Weather Service predicts this part of Montana will see some unseasonably warm temperatures for the next week or two.

Highs are expected to be in the 30s and even 40s through Sunday, though Tuesday night and Wednesday are expected to be a bit chillier with lows on the Hi-Line expected to be in the single digits Tuesday and Wednesday nights and the highs Wednesday mostly in the 20s. Lows otherwise are expected to be in the teens and 20s, with the forecast for Hays and Lodge Pole Saturday night predicting a low about 33.

State, county and city road crews in the area have been out trying to deal with the large amounts of snow, clearing streets, roads and highways.

Havre saw 32.7 inches of snow in December, more than four times the normal amount of 7.9 inches for the month, and possibly a new record for Havre, National Weather Service said the previous record was set in 1936 at 27 inches, although the snowfall last month has not been officially recorded as a record as of this morning.

Havre had a single-day record snowfall Dec. 28 with 5.5 inches and a record 6.7 inches both Dec. 17 and 18.

For the snow year starting July 1, Havre has recorded 40 inches even, following another cold, snowy month in November.

That month, the area went from a warm Halloween - Havre recorded a high of 66 Halloween Day, Oct. 31, and 65 Nov. 1 - snow fell and temperatures plummeted, with several days of sub-zero lows.

Havre hit a low of minus 18 Nov. 12, with the high that day of 13 degrees.

And cold continued in much of December, along with the snow. Dec. 18, the high was 1 degree with the high Monday minus 6 and the low minus 27.

The cold continued until Christmas, when the area warmed up - Havre had a high of 45 but then got cold again for a week.

Dec. 23 saw the coldest temperature in the state at minus 38, but it warmed to 9 below zero the morning of Dec. 24 and shot to 45 degrees Christmas day.

The weather turned closer to normal last week, though a bit chilly early in the week with highs in this area mostly in the teens and 20s, but warmed up again a bit Saturday and Sunday.

Havre had a high of 25 Saturday, though it dropped to 2 degrees for a low, but had a balmy high of 32 degrees Sunday, a bit warmer than the normal value for Jan. 8 of 28 degrees.

By 11 this morning the temperatures in this region ranged from 12 in Harlem and 30 in Havre and Chester to 37 in Big Sandy and 40 in Hays.

The forecast highs for today ranged from 33 to 41.

But the three-month forecast from the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center still says below-normal temperatures and above-normal precipitation are likely for this region through March.