Advisory Archive
Welcome back winter! Southwest Montana has become the epicenter of a strong cold front passing over the Northern Rockies. This front has delivered widespread precipitation with the Bridgers and mountains around Cooke City receiving the most with 12-16 inches of snowfall. Accumulations in the Northern Gallatins were eight to ten inches with West Yellowstone measuring around six inches. As this strong upper level trough is pushed to the east, we can expect snowfall to taper off this evening. Clearing skies and colder temps will prevail through mid-day Friday with another round of moisture moving into the area late Friday night into Saturday. Saturday night into Sunday should stay dry with below average temps.
The start of November received a break from what seemed like an early arrival of winter during October. Nearly 2.5ft of new snow fell last week in the mountains around Bozeman and Big Sky, while the mountains near Cooke City and West Yellowstone received 6-9 inches. That snow has settled to a total snowpack depth of 20-22 inches near Bozeman and Big Sky and 7-17 inches near Cooke City and West Yellowstone. Warm sunny days and clear cold nights will continue until this weekend when some precipitation will be possible.
October continues to blanket the advisory area with snow. This morning the mountains around Bozeman and Big Sky had 7-8 inches of new snow, and the mountains around Cooke City and West Yellowstone had 2-4 inches. Ridgetop winds have been ripping from the west and northwest at 26-30 mph in the Bridger Range and 18-20 mph near Big Sky. Temperatures at 9000ft have warmed close to freezing and will stay there until late Saturday night when they will start to cool again. Precipitation will continue through the weekend. Above 9000ft several inches of snow may accumulate each day, and a mix of rain and snow will likely fall at lower elevations. Strong winds will continue blowing from the northwest and west possibly calming late Saturday night.
October has been cold and wet. Most river basins in Montana have above average snowpacks:
http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/cgibin/snowup-graph.pl?state=MT
Average daily temperatures have been below normal:
Overnight up to 2ft of snow has fallen in the Bridger Range, 12-16 inches near Big Sky, and 4-5 inches in the mountains near Cooke City and West Yellowstone. Northerly winds have been blowing 12-15 mph with gusts up to 38 mph. October has been especially cold and snowy with preliminary climate data indicating Bozeman may experience its coldest October on record beating 1969 for the coldest daily average temperature. Precipitation has been above normal with MSU recording an additional ½ inch of water above the monthly average.
Early season new snow and record low temperatures at the beginning of October are a bad mix. Weak, faceted snow develops in these conditions which can increase the avalanche danger with subsequent snowstorms.
Yesterday morning scattered showers dropped 1-2 inches in the Bridger and southern Madison Ranges. The unsettled weather that gave us seven days of snow gracefully exited yesterday afternoon. Winds were westerly at 10-20 mph, but are calm under clear skies this morning. Mountain temperatures are in the single digits. The next three days will be calm and sunny with mountain temperatures reaching the low 40s today and possibly 50s tomorrow. With a snap of the fingers winter ends and spring arrives--just the way we like it.
Wow, the snow doesn’t stop falling! Since yesterday the mountains around Bozeman and Cooke City picked up 5-7 inches of snow and the mountains around Big Sky and West Yellowstone received 7-10 inches. Winds decreased late last night. This morning winds were blowing 5-10 mph from the northwest, but they were a bit gusty at mid mountain elevations in the Bridger Range. Temperatures were in the mid to upper teens F.
The trof of low pressure responsible for yesterday’s snowfall will remain over Southwest Montana today. Temperatures will be slightly cooler than yesterday and reach the mid 20s F. Winds will remain light at 5-10 mph from the north. By tomorrow morning the mountains around Bozeman, Big Sky and Cooke City will get an additional 5-7 inches of snow. The mountains near West Yellowstone will get 3-4 inches.
A moist northwest flow continues to give us snow. Three to five inches fell over most of our area with seven to nine inches accumulating around Big Sky and West Yellowstone. Mountain temperatures are in the teens and will rise into the low 20s today. Ridgetop winds are blowing westerly at 20-25 mph and will switch to the southwest later tonight. Another inch or two may fall today, but unsettled weather will bring even more snow Thursday and Friday. And that’s no April Fools joke.
Old man winter is still flexing his muscles. In the last 24 hours 9-12 inches fell in the Bridgers and northern Gallatins, 14 inches in the mountains around Big Sky, four inches near West Yellowstone and seven inches around Cooke City. Storm totals measure 14-17 inches in the northern mountains and 20-24 inches in the southern mountains including Big Sky. Winds have picked up and are blowing north to northwest at 20 mph with gusts in the 30s as temperatures dropped to the single digits at 9,000 feet. Under mostly cloudy skies, winds will continue, temperatures will increase into the high teens and we could get dusted with another inch of snow tonight.
Though raining in Bozeman this morning, snow was rapidly piling up in the mountains. Overnight 4-6 inches fell in mountains near Bozeman, 8-10 inches near Big Sky, and 12 inches near Cooke City and West Yellowstone. Temperatures were in the mid 20s F with winds blowing 10-25 mph from the southwest. This storm will bring cold air today and temperatures will slowly drop reaching the mid teens F by later this afternoon. Winds will stay strong at ridgetops and blow 20-30 mph from the west slowly shifting to the north. Make plans to call in sick to work because snowfall will continue with another 10-15 inches accumulating by tomorrow morning.