Advisory Archive
After last weekend's snow and a week of dry weather, more snow is coming today. 3-4 inches has already fallen in the mountains near West Yellowstone and Cooke City, and snowfall today should favor these areas. Yesterday ahead of this storm, winds increased and were blowing 20-50 mph from the S and SW. They have calmed slightly but should remain fairly strong through the weekend and slowly shift to the W and NW. Temperatures this morning are in the mid 20s F but should drop as the day progresses.
By Sunday morning the mountains throughout southwest Montana picked up 8-10 inches of new snow. The storm was cold and the snow that fell was low density powder measuring 5-6% with ridgetop winds out of the southwest at 10-20 mph. The next seven days are forecasted to be dry. Mountain temperatures are in the single digits this morning (well below average), but by Wednesday they are expected to rise into the high twenties.
A few places received a trace of snow; otherwise, it seemed like spring was finally overtaking winter yesterday. This morning temperatures dropped into the mid to high teens F, and winds increased to 15-20 mph from the W with gusts up to 30 mph. At the Bridger Ridge winds were blowing 25-40 mph. Skies are cloudy this morning and may produce a dusting of snow, but drier air and ridge of high pressure will move over the area today possibly bringing more sunshine and fewer clouds than yesterday. Temperatures should rise into the mid 30s F or higher depending on cloud cover. Winds will blow 10-25 mph from the W with higher gusts at ridgetops.
Yesterday most places received an additional 3-5 inches of snow. Strong easterly winds in the Bridger Range calmed overnight to 10-15 mph and shifted to the SSW this morning. All other areas received very little wind yesterday. Today wind directions will swing around the compass and only blow about 10 mph. Temperatures were in the teens to low 20s F this morning and should climb to near 30 F today with mostly cloudy skies. More moisture and some instabilities in the atmosphere will bring another 2-3 inches of snow to Cooke City while other areas will get an inch at most.
Since yesterday morning the Bridger Range received 6-9 inches of snow with winds blowing 20-30 mph from the NE at the ridge and SE at mid mountain. Most other places received 4-6 inches with winds blowing 10-15 mph mostly from the NE at ridgetops. Winds shouldn’t change much today. Temperatures this morning were in the mid teens to low 20s F and will rise to near 30 F today. Snowfall will continue and an additional 5-7 inches will accumulate by tomorrow morning.
Like Rocky in the last round of a title fight, old man Winter is off the ropes and punching wildly. At 6 a.m., 10-12 inches of new snow has fallen outside West Yellowstone and 7 inches outside Cooke City. All other weather stations are showing 4 inches with temperatures in the high teens and light west to southwest winds at 10 mph. Winds will pick up to 15-25 mph by tonight and snow will continue to fall into Friday. By morning I expect a foot of snow in the southern mountains and 6-8 inches everywhere else.
High precipitation intensity yesterday morning dropped another 10 inches of snow around Cooke City, 3 inches near West Yellowstone and 6-7 inches from Big Sky to the Bridger Range. Winds averaged 30 mph with gusts exceeding 50 mph as the snow fell, but have since calmed to 10-20 mph. At 6 a.m. mountain temperatures are near 10F under clear skies, but cloud cover will increase this afternoon and snow will fall tonight lasting into tomorrow. Wind speeds will increase out of the west to southwest at 20-30 mph. By tomorrow morning 3-6 inches will cover the mountains.
In the past 24 hours the mountains outside Cooke City picked up 10 inches of new snow while West Yellowstone got 6 inches. The snow tapered off to the north as 2-4 inches fell around Big Sky, an inch in the northern Gallatin, and nada in the Bridger Range. Temperatures are in the high 20s, their warmest in 24 hours. West to southwest winds were strong yesterday and remain so with speeds averaging 30 mph and gusting to 50 mph. By this afternoon winds will decrease to 20-30 mph and the freezing level will drop to 5,000 feet. By this evening the southern mountains will get another 6-8 inches of snow with 2-3 inches around Big Sky and 1-2 inches near Bozeman.
