Weather

We've become used to the fire season Air Quality Alerts during the summer across Montana. The terrible wildfires of the last few seasons have made them a common occurrence. However, parts of Montana are susceptible to Air Stagnation Alerts during the WINTER, stemming mostly from wood-burning stove usage.

Seriously though, for the money we pay, this has got to get figured out

We've been battling high winds for WEEKS and they're going to continue this week, until at least noon on Thursday. 60 MPH winds are expected on the I-90 corridor between Livingston and Big Timber.

Yellowstone National Park will continue to get hammered with snow and gusty winds until Saturday morning with a Winter Weather Advisory. Up to 12" of fresh snow could fall and visibility may be near zero during this time.

The conditions this past Fall were to hot, dry and dangerous to do any pile burning in our Custer Gallatin National Forest so they're doing it now. If you find yourself in the backcountry, you may see smoke from these pile burns. No need to worry as they are controlled.

By 11am there were over 80 incidents on Montana highways. Crashes, slide-offs and jackknifed semis were wreaking havoc on traffic flow and causing backups and delays. Snow, wind and cold temperatures are creating dangerous conditions and more is on the way.

Livingston and Big Timber make up the southern edge of a Montana wind tunnel through 6pm Monday evening. If you're headed north from Livingston, expect several counties to be under Wind Warnings or Advisories with gusts of 65 to 75 mph.

By late Monday morning, there were at least 2 dozen incidents on Montana highways that required Highway Patrol to be dispatched. Snow covered roads and low visibility guarantees there will be at least more slide-offs before days end.

Another round of significant snow is headed for the mountains near the Montana/Idaho border, with up to a foot or more possible by Friday night. This Winter Weather Advisory will probably only bring a few inches of snow to lower elevations.

From Missoula to Butte to Bozeman to Billings, the Montana Highway Patrol was very busy with crashes and slide-offs Wednesday morning.

Very gusty winds up to 40 MPH may accompany heavy snow in the higher elevations of SW Montana. Most valley areas under the Storm Warning may see 3 - 5 inches of snow, all by Wednesday morning.

Southern mountains of Gallatin, Madison and Beaverhead Counties may get up to a foot of fresh snow by Tuesday morning. Gusty winds up to 60 mph are also possible, creating difficult travel conditions over mountain passes.