An incoming weather system is expected to bring some fresh snow into Montana this long holiday weekend.
Missoula National Weather Service meteorologist Marty Whitmore says it will push through in a couple of different surges:
"Northwest Montana, call it north of the I-90 corridor, is going to start to see snow that could impact roadways Friday by mid-day. Down in Missoula, we may see some flakes, but we don’t think it’ll have much of an impact until Saturday," Whitmore says.
That’s when Whitmore says the second, more organized surge of winter weather could bring a few inches of fresh snow into the valleys:
"Enough to impact travel. We recognize that Saturday, being the day before Christmas is a peak travel day. It does not look like a high-impact system, but certainly there’s going to be some snow plowing to be done."
Forecasters are not expecting severe winter weather conditions, but still urge drivers to pay attention to changing weather conditions and slow down when necessary.
Whitmore says Monday should be a chilly, but generally quiet weather day:
"Then we get back into some northwest flow though on Tuesday and Wednesday. That’s often a fairly good pattern for us to provide on and off light to moderate snow. We’ll probably have an inch or two here and there as we get into Tuesday and Wednesday. It’s often more in the form of showers, so it’s kind of hit and miss – not widespread coverage."
Whitmore says forecasters expect this active and wet weather pattern to continue for the foreseeable future.