What To Expect From Montana's Weather This Weekend

A week of fierce winds is winding down, and although winds along the Northern Front are still gusting around 40 miles per hour, which is less than half of what we were seeing yesterday, when gusts were hitting over 90 miles per hour west of Browning.

National Weather Service forecaster Jenn Kitsmiller in Missoula says a weak system could give Glacier and the Northern Bob Marshall a few inches of snow, as Arctic air pushes in from Canada. But she says it will probably not leak into Western Montana.

"The most likely area that could see this colder air briefly push in is Highway 2, Essex to Marias Pass. So those areas could see some icing, and maybe some blowing and drifting snow as this cold air briefly tries to push along the divide."

🌨️ Temperatures in the northeast could sag toward the single digits, with up to 3 inches of snow and difficult travel, according to the Glasgow weather office.

Candidate filing week ends the second week

Another Democrat has officially entered the race to unseat incumbent U.S. Senator Steve Daines, a Helena woman who is a newcomer to Montana.

Alani Bankhead filed her paperwork yesterday, joining Michael Hummert in the race for the Democratic nomination. Daines and Libertarian Kyle Austin filed on the first day.

Bankhead moved to Montana three years ago and just retired from the Air Force Reserve.

The only other filing in the major races was veteran Montana State Senator Jonathan Windy Boy of Box Elder, filing his paperwork to run as a Democrat against incumbent Representative Troy Downing. He becomes the fourth candidate in the race, the 3rd Democrat, including Downing, who filed to run for a second term in the GOP last week.

More time for tax breaks

The state will give Montana taxpayers a little longer to apply for those property tax relief options, saying technical issues prompted the state to extend the deadline.

The Homestead and Long-Term Rental tax cuts were approved by the Legislature last year and were a key part of Governor Gianforte's tax relief efforts.

But the Department of Revenue says a flood of last-minute applications by people trying to hit the March 1st deadline overwhelmed the system.

Gianforte says the extension is to make sure "no one is penalized by a technical glitch."

The new deadline will be March 20th.

In November, Gov. Gianforte announced that nearly 80% of homes will see a tax cut from the reforms, with about 10% seeing property taxes remain flat. The average savings for homeowners who saw a tax cut was more than $500, not including the up to $400 property tax rebate available to eligible homeowners.