Mountain West Discussion

[Black Hole]

A few showers in the area yesterday, but nothing for me. A fire broke out just a couple miles from me but it seems they have a good handle on it now. Burned a few homes overnight though. 

[Front Ranger]

98 degrees at DEN, the warmest September temperature on record.

 

Have I mentioned I'm ready for fall?

[Black Hole]

100 here the other day which tied the Sep record. Cloudy with a few light showers this morning and presently 71F. 

[Front Ranger]

98 degrees at DEN, the warmest September temperature on record.

 

And broke this yesterday by hitting 100.

 

Almost 20 degrees cooler today, thankfully. Looks like a more seasonable pattern overall with chances for rain/storms starting in a couple days.

[Kayla]

Fall has officially arrived here now after summers last gasp heatwave (5 days in a row above 84F) last week. Picked up a 0.5" of rain on Friday and a 64/47 day yesterday. High of only 61F after a morning low of 42F today with a whole bunch more rain currently moving in. Currently 57F.

 

Looks like we stay wet into Thursday of next week with highs struggling to reach 50F on Wednesday.

[Kayla]

Been a very wet 72 hours all over the state here and it is still raining in most areas currently. Pretty rare to see such a widespread rain event this time of year. Another significant storm is right on the heels of this one beginning tomorrow afternoon through Wednesday.

 

Airports

Kalispell 1.20"

Missoula - 1.64"

Helena - 2.02"

Butte - 1.11"

Belgrade (Bozeman Airport) - 1.25"

 

1.32" in my backyard over the past 72 hours. Currently 49F with light rain continuing.

[Black Hole]

Very wet and chilly the last few days with numerous thunderstorms. I've picked up about 2/3 of an inch but some places have been well over 1". 

During the showers this afternoon it fell to 47F at 1pm. Snow fell down to about 9k feet too.

 

[Black Hole]

Looks like another storm in a week but dry until then. 

[Kayla]

49/44 day here yesterday, first high below 50 of the season. Ended up with 1.84" of rain over the past 6 days.

 

Most cities in the state are already well above their total monthly September precip average, especially Eastern MT. Glasgow and Glendive have already seen over 3.5" of rain this month.

[Black Hole]

A decent cold front came through last night. Got .04" and a few claps of thunder. Main difference is that its much colder. 

[Kayla]

Really wet and raw day here today. Already 0.33" in the bucket and 43F as of 12:30pm and the heaviest stuff has still yet to come. Winter Weather Advisory is up for the surrounding mountains above 8,000ft.

 

Models are really honing in on a significant early season cold snap and possibly significant snow. GFS, GEM and the ECMWF have been hinting at feet of snow and lows dropping into the teens by next weekend. 1985 holds the record for snowiest September with 7.0" of snowfall. If the models hold true, Bozeman could easily exceed that record.

[Kayla]

Ended up with 1.11" of rain yesterday and a midnight high of 49F. Was around 40-41 degrees throughout the day. Up to 3.16" of precip on the month now. Really good chance this month gets into the top 5 wettest Septembers.

 

Looks like the snow level was around 6,500-7,000ft as I can see the hills around us are white this morning. 

 

Still raining this morning and it should continue until noon or so before finally tapering.

[Kayla]

Clouds are finally beginning to lift here after another 0.41" of rain on the day so far. Can finally get a peek of the surrounding hills first dusting of the year! Sounds like the mountains (above 8k) have seen 18+ inches already.

 

[Black Hole]

Picked up .46" the other day and am at 1.53" for the month and 26.05" for the water year. Looks like a potent storm will move in next Friday, just as I head down to Arizona lol

At any rate, will probably end up 27-28" for the water year here, which is very impressive.

[Jesse]

Picked up .46" the other day and am at 1.53" for the month and 26.05" for the water year. Looks like a potent storm will move in next Friday, just as I head down to Arizona lol

 

At any rate, will probably end up 27-28" for the water year here, which is very impressive.

Moving down to Arizona has got to sort of feel like torture. But I understand it’s for your career. There is a beauty to the desert.

[Kayla]

12z GFS is very cold and snowy here Sunday-Tuesday. It shows widespread 12-20"+ of snowfall with highs below freezing and lows in the single digits. Winter is coming in with a bang it would seem. Guess it's time to start winterizing things.

 

[Front Ranger]

DEN will almost certainly end up with their warmest September on record. Running 2 degrees warmer than previous record, though that will definitely drop a fair amount over the final week of the month with cooler lows.

 

We'll probably finish with a September that was about 4 degrees warmer than June...which is crazy, since September averages 4 degrees colder than June.

[Kayla]

The 12z GFS spit out 3 days at or below freezing the 30th-2nd with a high of 28F on the 1st and a record shattering low of 8F on the 2nd in Bozeman...

[Wxmidatlantic]

Two snowfalls above 9000ft so far. Looks like first major event 96-144hrs for idaho, Wyoming. The atmosphere cools from the top. Great to see the snow fly....

[Jesse]

The 12z GFS spit out 3 days at or below freezing the 30th-2nd with a high of 28F on the 1st and a record shattering low of 8F on the 2nd in Bozeman...

Any updates on this?

 

Doesn’t seem like the models have pulled back much, if at all.

[Kayla]

Any updates on this?

 

Doesn’t seem like the models have pulled back much, if at all.

 

Looks like things are going to dig just a little too far southwest to see those record breaking numbers. Probably looking at upper teens now at the lowest and low to mid 30's for highs. Still quite impressive for late September though!

 

The big story as I'm sure you've heard is the snowfall totals in the northern areas of the state. Over 4ft in some areas!  Looking like only 2-6" here. Bozeman never does very well with lows passing to our south as we get shadowed pretty bad. Either way, a very fun event to track!

 

[Wxmidatlantic]

Nice snowburst at Teton Pass just before sunrise. 1-2 inches of unforecast snow. Winter Storm Watches are posted.

[Wxmidatlantic]

Bob Seger, Sunburst...

[Front Ranger]

DEN still on track for easily the warmest September on record. 

 

To be fair, Boulder will finish well below their record. But regardless, a far more summery September than usual and one of the warmest ever for the region.

[Kayla]

Looks like things are going to dig just a little too far southwest to see those record breaking numbers. Probably looking at upper teens now at the lowest and low to mid 30's for highs. Still quite impressive for late September though!

 

The big story as I'm sure you've heard is the snowfall totals in the northern areas of the state. Over 4ft in some areas!  Looking like only 2-6" here. Bozeman never does very well with lows passing to our south as we get shadowed pretty bad. Either way, a very fun event to track!

 

Of course as soon as I say this the 12z models come in colder and snowier! They are now showing Mon/Tue lows dropping into the low teens with highs just touching the freezing mark. They are also now showing 6-12" of snowfall in the Bozeman area on Sunday.

[Kayla]

Had a midnight high of 42F this morning and have been hanging around 35-36F all day with light snow and a very brisk NE wind gusting over 20 mph at times.

 

Looks like temps should really drop off this evening with a nice slug of moisture moving in. At this point, I'm expecting 4-8" of snow and 4-6" in town. Lows look to still drop into the mid teens Monday and Tuesday morning. Pretty incredible stuff for September! 

[GHweatherChris]

Had a midnight high of 42F this morning and have been hanging around 35-36F all day with light snow and a very brisk NE wind gusting over 20 mph at times.

 

Looks like temps should really drop off this evening with a nice slug of moisture moving in. At this point, I'm expecting 4-8" of snow and 4-6" in town. Lows look to still drop into the mid teens Monday and Tuesday morning. Pretty incredible stuff for September!

NWS point forecast for Bozeman is very unimpressive.

[Kayla]

NWS point forecast for Bozeman is very unimpressive.

 

Yeah, Great Falls NWS is really bad in Bozeman for whatever reason. Seems like they clump Belgrade (airport) and Bozeman into those point forecasts. Has been that way since I moved here.

 

GFS/GEM/ICON/ECMWF all show 4-6" in Bozeman. 

[GHweatherChris]

Yeah, Great Falls NWS is really bad in Bozeman for whatever reason. Seems like they clump Belgrade (airport) and Bozeman into those point forecasts. Has been that way since I moved here.

 

GFS/GEM/ICON/ECMWF all show 4-6" in Bozeman.

Oh I believe the models for sure, apparently they do not lol.

[Kayla]

It is kind of an interesting setup today with this storm and it really shows between the Airport (Belgrade) and Bozeman (MSU). It's currently 41F in Belgrade and 35F in Bozeman with only a 500ft elevation difference.

 

With the city nestled up against the mountains more I think we are seeing a lot of cold air damning taking place today which is also the case with higher precipitation throughout the year in Bozeman as well.

[Kayla]

Already down to 29F here this evening. Feels and looks like Winter. Still just mainly light snowfall but we should start to some heavier bands move in overnight into tomorrow morning.

 

Hi-Res models are also indicating some pretty strong bands to setup over Bozeman tomorrow evening as well.

[Front Ranger]

Already down to 29F here this evening. Feels and looks like Winter. Still just mainly light snowfall but we should start to some heavier bands move in overnight into tomorrow morning.

 

Hi-Res models are also indicating some pretty strong bands to setup over Bozeman tomorrow evening as well.

The historic nature of what you've experienced since moving there will undoubtedly be underappreciated on this forum.

 

It's not been normal.

[Kayla]

The historic nature of what you've experienced since moving there will undoubtedly be underappreciated on this forum.

 

It's not been normal.

 

Yeah it's pretty surreal. Feels like we've entered a new era or something.

 

I would expect it to break at some point but honestly I'm beginning to expect these events now since that's all I know since moving here.

[Kayla]

About 2" of snow last night and really coming down out there now. Currently 24F with a wind chill in the low teens.

 

Winter has arrived, in September.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Weather history for Browning, MT shows 0.09" of precipitation. Where's the 23 inches of snow that weather.com was talking about?

[Kayla]

Weather history for Browning, MT shows 0.09" of precipitation. Where's the 23 inches of snow that weather.com was talking about?

Browning is up to 40 inches at last check actually. Those precip numbers are never right due to poor or no heat element at all.

[Anti Marine Layer]

While Montana continues to get buried in snow, Denver is 87 degrees.

[TT-SEA]

Not too bad in Bozeman...

 

[TT-SEA]

Browning MT on the other hand...

 

[Kayla]

Not too bad in Bozeman...

 

Yeah nothing compared to Browning that is for sure! Nonetheless, still a record breaking low, high temp day with 35F at the Airport. This breaks 1983 daily record of 40F. Still waiting on Bozeman MSU number to come in but I think they either broke or tied their 1925 record of 34F. Daily high and lows look to continue to be broken these next couple of days as well from 1985 and 1950.

 

30F/24F day here which is by far the earliest sub-freezing high I've had since moving here.