Snow expected to fall through early next week

Light snow falling in the region this morning looks to be just a taste of what’s to come in the next several days.

National Weather Service has upgraded its forecast for this region to include a winter weather advisory from 6 p.m. today through 6 a.m. Saturday and a more severe winter storm watch from Saturday morning through Sunday evening, with advisories and watches in place for Blaine, Chouteau, Hill and Liberty counties.

The Weather Service notice warned that travel could be difficult.

“Snowfall accumulations will range drastically from grassy surfaces to roads and sidewalks (today) and Friday, especially during the daylight hours,” it said. “Pavement surfaces are likely to be mostly wet between the hours of 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. due to warm ground temperatures and a high March sun angle, but quickly refreeze and become snow-covered during the early evening hours with the loss of sunlight. By the weekend much-colder air and higher snowfall rates are expected to lead to more uniform accumulations across both grassy and pavement surfaces.”

It added that people should slow down and use caution while traveling. The latest road conditions can be obtained by calling 5 1 1 or visiting the Montana Department of Transportation Road Report website at https://www.mdt.mt.gov/travinfo/detailed.aspx .

The advisory said that, through 6 a.m. Saturday, total snow accumulation of between 3 inches and 5 inches is expected.

Total new accumulations between 5 inches and 8 inches are possible during the storm watch from Saturday morning through Sunday evening, the storm watch said, with the greatest chance of snow Sunday mainly before noon but a chance of snow continuing through Sunday night.

The forecast predicts a slight chance of snow in this region continuing through Monday night.

Highs are expected to mostly be in the 20s through Friday, cooling Saturday with highs mostly in the low 20s and in the teens.

Highs are expected to be in the teens Sunday with lows mostly in the teens until Saturday and Sunday, when they are expected to drop into the teens and single digits.

Highs are predicted to be in the teens Monday and back into the 20s Tuesday and 30s Wednesday.