Western Montana Spring May Be Here to Stay

Weather forecasters were predicting more wintery conditions for western Montana this weekend, February 15, but Meteorologist Dan Zumpf says that weather patterns have changed.

"We had earlier thought that we were going to get some arctic air from east of the continental divide to come through the valleys and bring us those Hellgate Canyon winds that we are so use to. But it looks like those projections have backed off in the past several days and the snow will mostly be in the mountains."

Last year about this time, Missoula was only days away from the heavy snow and windstorms that brought about an urban avalanche, but this year, it appears spring is in the air.

"We are seeing temperatures generally no colder than about normal for this time of year and generally no prospect for a big snow producing storm," Zumpf said.

Zumpf says a high pressure system has pushed the wintery weather away from Montana, and out over the plains for most of the winter.