As snow storms and brutally cold temperatures have slammed into the eastern U.S., Montana feels more like April than early February.
Trent Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Missoula, says it’s not just a Montana thing. Most of the western U.S. is experiencing unseasonably mild temperatures and low snowfall in low to mid elevations.
“We’ve been dealing with a ridge of high pressure that’s developed over the top of us," Smith says. "It’s just gotten a good hold of us and we can’t seem to shake it.”
In Montana, Smith says snowpack in the high elevation is, for now, holding steady at 100% to 120% of normal.
“But below 6,000 feet it has been a different story, where we’ve been warm with the melting. Most of the precip has been falling off. A lot of our observation sites below 6,000 feet are probably sitting in the 40 to 60 percent range,” Smith says.
Forecasters are monitoring a potential weather pattern change to cooler and wetter conditions by mid-month, but details are still uncertain.
