Winter Weather Hits Northern Rockies and Plains

Record snowfall occurred in Montana today, and snow will likely fall across the parts of the Dakotas and Minnesota through Thursday.

Snow accumulations in the Rocky Mountain front in northwestern Montana ranged from 11.0 inches in Teton County to 7.0 inches in Glacier County, and from 1.5 to 5.0 inches further south. Billings received 2.3 inches of snow, breaking the old record for October 3 of 1.3 inches in 1991.

Residents of northeastern North Dakota to northwestern Minnesota will wake up to heavy snow and strong winds causing blizzard conditions at times. Six to 12 inches of snow are expected  to accumulate by Thursday night.  Winter storm warnings are in effect, and further to the east Winter Weather Advisories are in effect for most of North Dakota.

This is the watch.warning map for 11:25 p.m. October 3. The pink shading indicates
Winter Storm Warnings, and the purple indicates Winter Weather Advisories.

Sunny and cool weather is expected over the weekend, so any accumulated snow will be melting throughout the week. Despite the inconvenience of the early winter weather, the precipitation is very welcome.  Precipitation has been less than 50 percent of normal in the Northern Plains since July 1.

The storm is a an early reminder to those CoCoRaHS observers in snow country that it's a good time to start reviewing snow measurement procedures in preparation for the coming winter.