West of the Continental Divide:

Below: Corduroy is still in fashion on the Big Mountain (Whitefish). Image R.McLaury/WMR

Wednesday & Thursday: The region will be under a dry surface trough with partly sunny skies for both days. By Thursday afternoon, increasing clouds will develop with some isolated flurries possible along the Idaho border at Lookout and Lost Trail. Temps stay right around seasonal with highs 32 – 36F across the high country. Light W/SW winds.  

Friday: Our next storm system, a Pacific shortwave and associated cold front will arrive Thursday night bringing widespread light snowfall across the region. Most of the snowfall looks to occur for the mountains along and south of I-90 with 1 – 3” possible by first-chair Friday morning at Lookout, Snowbowl, Disco, and Lost Trail (LT). Periods of snow showers continue through the day on Friday with additional accumulations of 1 – 3” likely for the aforementioned ski areas. Clouds with isolated morning flurries possible at Whitefish and Blacktail. Cooler on Friday with mountain top highs ranging from 22F at Whitefish to 26F at Lookout and Lost Trail. Breezy west winds, with ridgetop gusts to 25 mph.  

Saturday & Sunday: An active NW flow aloft will be throwing cold Canadian air and weak disturbances into the region through the weekend. Generally speaking, colder surface temps will bring cloudy skies with extended periods of convective snow showers (think graupel) with light accumulations of 1- 3” possible on both days for areas along and south of the I-90 corridor. Generally cloudy and unsettled across the NW where Whitefish and Blacktail could see an inch on Saturday. Temps will be running about 10 degrees colder than seasonal both days with mountain top highs in the upper teens to middle 20’s across the region. Light winds expected. 

East of the Continental Divide: 

Below: Low stratus cloud deck sits below Lone Mountain (Big Sky) on Wednesday morning.

Wednesday & Thursday: A low amplitude ridge of high-pressure will bring mostly sunny skies Wednesday with a slight chance of convective late afternoon graupel showers across SW Montana at Big Sky and Bridger, as well as along the Big Belt’s at Showdown. Thursday, a mix of sun and clouds with increasing cloud cover by late afternoon. Upper-mountain temps both days at 8000’ will be slightly below seasonal with highs in the mid to upper 20’s. Light winds.

Friday: A NW flow will bring in our next Pacific shortwave and associated cold front Thursday night and spreading through the SW and North Central regions through the day on Friday continuing into Friday night. The further south you go the better as SW Montana’s Big Sky has the best possibility  for 5 – 10” through Friday night, with 3 – 6” possible at Bridger Bowl. Wildcard status goes to Red Lodge where there is a slight possibility of upslope winds which could bring heavy snow late Friday night up to 8”. Elsewhere across the region, generally 1 – 4” look likely through Friday night. Quite chilly on Friday behind the cold front with afternoon highs at 8000’ of 18 – 24F. Light to moderate west winds keep things brisk across alpine areas. 

Saturday & Sunday: Friday’s shortwave low looks to slow down and strengthen over southern Idaho allowing wrap around Pacific moisture to flow into mostly SW Montana but also for areas north of the I-90 corridor (Showdown, GD, and Teton Pass). While we’ll have a better idea on this weekend’s forecast in my next post on Friday, it looks like persistent periods of convective snow showers will persist Saturday, Saturday night and into Sunday with chances of 1 – 3” every 12-hour period across SW Montana’s resorts and ski areas, with trace amounts to 2” for areas north of I-90. Temps will remain 10- 15 degrees below seasonal averages over the weekend. Light to moderate winds. 

Below: The NBM for snowfall from 2PM (mtn) Thursday through midnight (mtn) on Sunday is a tad bit aggressive but it does a nice job of highlighting where the deepest snow totals are likely. SW Montana (Big Sky, Maverick, Bridger Bowl, and Red Lodge) should all see some nice powdery conditions through the weekend.   

     

Monday, March 27th through Friday, March 31st 

A trough of low-pressure across the PNW extending through the Northern Rockies will continue to bring unsettled snow showery skies across the Treasure State through the middle of next week. Another deep Pacific storm plows into California towards the middle of next week that will bring a SW flow into the Northern Rockies keeping unsettled skies with a warming trend through Friday of next week. Daily light accumulations look likely all next week mainly for areas and resorts south of the I-90 line. Stay tuned. 

Below: The CPC's 8 - 14 day extended forecast keeps the temps slightly below average with near average chances of precipitation. 

 

Thanks for tuning in. Next update on Friday 3/24.  

Powder Out – 

Bob