Sorry, Mr. Crosby, this year you might just have to dream about it.
According to the National Weather Service, the chance of a white Christmas is low in Missoula, Billings, Bozeman and valleys in the Flathead. In Great Falls and Helena, it’s a toss-up, but Montanans at higher elevations and residents in the northeastern corner of the state are likely to wake up to some snow on the ground.
The disappointing forecast for snow enthusiasts is the result of southwest winds that continue to import warm, wet weather into the state, according to Jeff Kitsmiller, a meteorologist with the weather service based in Missoula.
“This weather pattern that we’ve been in, where we keep getting a little bit of moisture and then a warm up, is continuing through Christmas,” Kitsmiller said.
A trough of low pressure is hovering just off the West Coast, propelling Pacific air northeast across Montana and effectively blocking cold Canadian air from making its way south, Kitsmiller said. The state’s mountains might receive some snowfall, but existing snow in western valleys is likely to melt, according to Kitsmiller. Missoula and Kalispell will likely miss out on a white Christmas for the third consecutive year, the first streak of that length since 1955, Kitsmiller said.
In Bozeman, the limited amount of snow currently on the ground is likely to be melted by warm temperatures and washed away by rain before Christmas, according to Matt Ludwig, a lead meteorologist at the weather service in Great Falls.
And the state’s southeastern plains are more likely to have a gray Christmas than a white one, according to Logan Torgerson, a Billings-based meteorologist with the weather service. Temperatures could stretch into the 50s on Christmas, potentially usurping the Magic City’s current holiday record, when temperatures reached 56 degrees in 2005, Torgerson said.
Also a surprise to meteorologists during the last week of December: Less than half of the state is currently covered by snow, according to Jim Brusda with the weather service in Great Falls.
“Great Falls, Lewistown, Miles City, Billings, Helena, Havre, Cutbank — that whole area is brown,” Brusda said.
In northeastern Montana, low temperatures mean snow on the ground is likely to persist through Christmas, although freezing rain is more likely than additional snowfall, according to Ben Stoinski, a Glasgow-based meteorologist with the weather service.
Missoula-based Kitsmiller also said that it’s not clear whether the new year will bring a more traditional winter.
“It still is not that certain yet,” he said.
LATEST STORIES
Federal judge blocks Montana’s AI campaign ad law
A Montana law regulating the use of generative artificial intelligence in campaign ads has been dealt a blow by a federal judge based on freedom of speech concerns. The order greenlights general election advertising that former legislator Dan Bartel and ASG PAC planned to use, but feared being prosecuted for.
Montanans are using AI, but remain wary of its societal impact
Almost four years after OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT, AI is now firmly rooted in many Montanans’ day-to-day tasks, according to a Montana Free Press-Eagleton poll of registered voters conducted in late August and early September. More Montanans use AI — and to some extent trust AI — for general searches, work tasks and writing, than for more intimate functions, like medical advice or companionship. Users remain skeptical of the technology’s broader impacts, too. Only about 12% believe AI has a “somewhat” or “very positive” impact on society.
Broadview area data center sees first phase of construction with roads, well work
Quantica has agreed to use local, unionized labor when possible, under a memorandum of understanding it signed with the Southeastern Montana Building and Construction Trades Council. Riley McCauley, vice president of the council, said they won’t have details on job numbers or wages until Quantica has secured an “end user,” or a digital or AI company, to purchase the facility.
