Brace yourselves for some weekend weather. The National Weather Service advises that an arctic cold front moving south across Western Montana this weekend will bring winter storm conditions including snow and high winds to much of the area.
"Travel will be hazardous to impossible with the blowing and drifting snow and low visibility" said an NWS official in a video released Friday afternoon.
Residents from Kalispell down to Missoula should be prepared to see a couple of inches of snowfall by Friday evening, which could impact driving conditions.
Northwest Montana valleys can expect 8-12 inches of snowfall throughout the weekend with the greatest impact late Saturday afternoon into Sunday morning.
Missoula’s NWS station warns that US-2 from Marias Pass into Kalispell and into the Mission Mountains will experience blizzard-like conditions.
As the arctic front moves south, I-90 east of Missoula could see similarly treacherous conditions Sunday morning.
"Wind damage is also possible as winds could gust up to 50 miles per hour which could lead to trees falling on power lines" the NWS said.
The weekend storm will be followed by cold temperatures dipping well below zero across the region starting Monday into early next week.
NWS reminds residents to watch out for frostbite and to take precautions with newborn livestock.
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