Weather

After a long Montana winter, most were ready for warmer temps, but were we ready for record-breaking temperatures already? For many of us, the answer is no.

Flooding due to snowmelt is nothing new in the spring, but flooding in very rural areas is extra dangerous. Having less traffic and fewer people around means less help if you find yourself in a jam on a flooded roadway. Even minor flooding can become an emergency if your vehicle becomes stuck or disabled.

The falling snow isn't supposed to last that long and the concern is mainly for higher elevations. But Tuesday night could get very messy with up to 5" of fresh snow and 45 MPH winds showing up for about 12 hours.

Damaging winds are forecasted for several Montana counties east of Glacier National Park with gusts up to 70 MPH. Travel could be impacted especially for taller vehicles, big trucks, and any towing units. Wide open roads may have debris flying across the road at times.

The Tobacco Root, Elkhorn, and Boulder Mountains are just a few ranges that could get absolutely pummeled with fresh snow by Thursday night. Other Montana mountains may only see 6" to 12" of fresh snow. This next storm is classic 'snow roulette'.

Saturday and Sunday will very unpleasant at times for Montana travel, especially through almost all of our mountain passes and high elevation in general. Heavy bands of snow combined with 50+ MPH winds are expected at times which will drop visibility to near zero. Conditions are going to fluctuate rapidly in dozens of Montana counties.

Tricky driving conditions will continue in Montana through Friday morning with more snow falling along with varying temperatures. The vast amounts of snow that fell this past weekend have already created snow-packed roads and deep ruts.

Avalanche danger is high in several locations of southwest Montana. Specifically the southern Gallatin and Madison ranges, and areas near Island Park. Continuous, heavy snow has increased the danger.

Over a foot of snow along with 60+ MPH winds are possible along the southern Montana Idaho border through Saturday morning. Dangerous driving conditions will occur with the mountain passes getting the brunt of this storm.

Travel could be very difficult at times in parts of southwest Montana through Monday morning. Several inches, perhaps up to 6 inches of snow is expected to fall intermittently in this weekend storm.

Monday might be a little sketchy. Just when you finished all the shoveling and chipping away at ice in the driveway, another storm is moving in that may dump up to 10" of fresh powder in the higher elevations surrounding Bozeman.

Montana is known to be a winter wonderland, but when it comes to most brutal winters, there are 8 states that rank higher than Montana.