A powerful Arctic winter storm is expected to dump significant snow across parts of northwest and west central Montana through Friday. Extreme cold then swoops in this weekend. Experts urge Montanans to take this storm seriously.
Weather forecasters are using words like ‘brutal’ to describe the kind of cold that will settle into the Rockies. Lincoln and Flathead Counties will see wind chills dipping to between minus 30 and minus 50 degrees.
Several all time record lows may be shattered.
Missoula Community Medical Center Emergency Medicine Specialist Dr. Aaron Feist spoke on the matter.
“At temperatures of negative 15-degrees Fahrenheit you can get frostbite in as quickly as 15 minutes,” Feist said.
A common, early symptom of frostbite is a tingling or numb sensation on the skin. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, carbon monoxide poisoning is most common during cold winter months.
NorthWestern Energy urges people to prepare an emergency kit in case power gets knocked out. Suggested supplies include food, medicine and batteries.
Missoula Poverello Center spokesperson Beckett Redinger said some people will be reluctant to use the shelters despite the extreme cold.
“So our Homeless Outreach Team goes out every weekday and they’re always giving information out,” Redinger said. “This week it will be largely about the weather and about saying, ‘I know going into a shelter may be tough for you, but it’s really important right now.’”
Beckett said the Outreach Team is also distributing survival gear including tents, sleeping bags, coats, socks and gloves – anything that could help someone survive a night of terrible cold.
Pets and livestock are just as vulnerable to extreme cold as humans.
