Arctic blast brings record breaking cold to Montana
A horse in St. Regis stands in a field of new fallen snow. (Kathleen Woodford/Mineral Independent)
The bridge at Lozeau is christened with the first snow fall of the year. (Kathleen Woodford/Mineral Independent)
A view from a Montana Department of Transportation snowplow near St. Regis when a severe storm hit on Dec. 15. (Photo courtesy of MT DOT).
Baby its cold outside, as an arctic blast hit the Rocky Mountains on Friday, bringing sub-zero temperatures and hazardous driving conditions to the area. This was after several inches of snow covered the valley on Thursday morning.
Several events were cancelled due to road conditions including Clark Fork Mountain Cat wrestling at Arlee on Thursday, along with Junior High and girls basketball. A Fish, Wildlife, and Parks advisor meeting and legislative open house was also cancelled on Thursday in Missoula. Along with an ACE’s (Adverse Childhood Experiences) presentation on Dec. 16, in Superior.
Avalanche warnings were also in effective in West Central Montana over the weekend. Meanwhile, on Saturday the coldest location in the state was Elk Park north of Butte, with 48 below zero, followed closely by West Yellowstone with minus 43 degrees. In Mineral County, residents were posting temperatures of minus 10 to minus 14 degrees on Facebook.
Records cold temperatures were being set on Dec. 17 at four recording station in Montana. Minus 34 was recorded at the Bozeman-Belgrade airport, which beat a 1964 record of minus 31 degrees. East of Shelby in Dunkirk, minus 35, Ennis in the Madison Valley with minus 31, and Ballantine, east of Billings, with 34 below zero. All were new record breaking lows.
Temperatures began to moderate on Monday with highs in the low thirties.