Winter in Montana is tough. If you plan on traveling during the winter months, you'll want to make sure you have a vehicle that can keep up with the conditions.
The higher elevations of Montana could see well over a foot of fresh snow by Friday. Most counties have a storm warning or watch in effect, and the valleys are expected to get 5" to 10" inches as well. Travel may become a serious issues during this storm.
Skiing and riding at resorts is fine, but Tuesday is NOT the day to explore the new snow in the backcountry near Bozeman and other areas of southwest Montana. Avalanche danger is extremely high, and the risk of triggering a huge slide is very real.
Lots of mountain snow is falling in Montana, which is great news. Montana is still very far behind normal average snowpack levels and drought concerns are still big. Towns and valleys can expect some snow, but high elevations across Montana are expecting 4" to 8" of fresh snow, with up to a foot in some locations.
The mountains of western Montana might score 8 to 10 inches of fresh snow by Sunday afternoon. Warnings and advisories have been issued for just about every western county, but some higher elevations might receive nearly a foot of snow.
Find out if Punxsutawney Phil's prediction of an early spring can be trusted and if Montana will experience the same. Recent weather patterns seem to align with Phil's forecast.
Montana's lack of snowfall and our dangerously low snowpack levels are becoming the stuff of fire season nightmares. As the winter weeks go by, our 'percentages of normal' keep ticking lower - and that's not good news for this summer.
Are you a newcomer to Montana? Learn about the 8 things that annoy Montanans during the winter season. Avoid making these mistakes and fit in with the locals!
Just because it's been so unbearably cold, doesn't mean that Montana's in a much better place for winter snowpack. Much needed snow is headed for some mountain ranges in southwest Montana.