Other locations in Montana warm by 100 degrees since mid-January
By Jack Reaney ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Two weeks after an arctic airmass swept dangerously low temperatures across Montana, a new weather system brought drastically warmer temperatures to Montana.
On Jan. 28, Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport in Belgrade recorded a high temperature of 49 degrees Fahrenheit—94F warmer than the airport’s low of -45F on Jan. 13.
Meteorologist Matthew Ludwig from the National Weather Service in Great Falls said Montana has seen an incredible warming pattern in the past couple weeks.
“There’s not too many places in the United States that can say they’ve seen a 100-degree temperature swing in the span of a month… it’s a remarkable feat,” Ludwig told EBS during a phone call on Jan. 31. He said the temperature change is tied to a pattern shift to a Pacific southwesterly flow.
On Jan. 30, the Great Falls airport experienced a record high temperature of 64 degrees, amounting to a 100-plus degree temperature swing. Meteorologist Scott Coulston added that within NWS’ Great Falls service area, three other stations recorded temperatures 100 or more degrees apart: Lewistown, Cut Bank and Havre.
“Highest spreads were generally over the plains, which makes sense with winds over the plains melting a lot of the snow,” Coulston said. The valleys of southwest Montana didn’t have quite as much wind to stir up the atmosphere and melt the snow.
“This is definitely quite the warm up,” Ludwig said.
However, as a stormy system moves into southwest Montana on Friday, temperatures should return to seasonal norms.
