Montana Warms Up As January Bids Farewell To Winter Chill

After a short brush with colder, and in some spots, snowy weather, Montana's weather is trending back to warm and dry to end January. And the long-range outlook continues to offer no real relief to the lack of snowfall, at least until this coming weekend.

Strong winds continued to blow along the Highway 191 corridor today, with crosswinds impacting north and southbound traffic, as traffic was detoured off I-90 into Livingston, where a gust of 77 miles per hour was recorded early this morning.

The National Weather Service is forecasting a turn to cloudy, milder weather across much of Eastern Montana over the next couple of days, with highs near 50 later this week in Billings and Great Falls.

It will take longer to warm up in the Western Montana valleys, with a mix of sun and cloud through the week, and highs into the 40s on Tuesday. Northeast Montana will still see a few lows continuing to drop below zero, with highs warming back into the mid-20s by the end of the week.

The extended outlook suggests more moisture could be coming to the Pacific Northwest coast, but snow levels are expected to rise to 6,000 feet in Washington, so if moisture does make it inland, it might not help much with the snowpack.

     🌦️ This afternoon, the forecast did start to include a chance of valley rain showers, and a slight chance of snow in the higher elevations on Friday or Saturday.

Will late winter save the fire season?

We're still 3-months away from the first official fire forecast. Still, meteorologists with the National Interagency Fire Center say it will take a late-season surge of snow and rain to improve conditions for this summer.

Predictive Services Meteorologist Dan Borsum says the computer forecast models are still showing that's possible.

Cascade County sheriff releases description of murder suspect

Cascade County detectives are expanding their search for home and business video surveillance clips that can help them more clearly identify the suspect in the murder of a Harlem man two weeks ago.

Sheriff Jesse Slaughter announced over the weekend that investigators are expanding their search area, from 14th Street South to 26th Street South, and hoping to find any video of the victim's car, a 2014 Chevy Cruze.

The sheriff is also releasing the first description of the suspect… a man in his 20s or 30s, wearing what appears to be a dark colored zip up coat or hoodie, as it appears on the video they've collected so far.

Clips and other information can be sent to Detective Nick Allison by email at nallison@cascadecountyMT.dot.gov or via text at 406-836-0010 with your contact information.

Elderly man killed in Rosebud County crash

An 80-year old Miles City man was killed, and a 78-year old woman was injured after running off the freeway in Rosebud County.

Montana Highway Patrol says the driver lost control of his older, full-sized car as he was heading eastbound on I-94, crossing the centerline and going off the road, where it hit a delineator, came back across the freeway, smashing into a guardrail. The driver was taken to the hospital in Forsyth, but died from his injuries.

Older couple saved in snowbank crash

A quick response probably helped save the lives of an elderly couple who ran off I-90 and in to a snowbank west of St. Regis.

The Mineral County Sheriff's Office says the man driving the car had run off the freeway, and both of the victims were unresponsive. The doors were locked, but Sheriff Ryan Funke and the reporting party were able to gain access using a window punch, and then two off-duty deputies and paramedics were able to get the pair out of the car, using Narcan and CPR to revive them and get them transported to the hospital in Superior, where they're expected to recover.