Snow and frost hit in the summer

A storm this week did not seem to drop as much snow as expected in north-central Montana - and skipped Havre and points east entirely - but did bring some white stuff, including in the Bear Paw Mountains, followed by an early frost, with a week left of summer.

The front moving out of Canada earlier this week brought winter weather advisories and warnings to the state, but the main storm seems to have hit south and east of Montana, with Wyoming and South Dakota seeming to get the brunt of the snowfall.

The temperature and snow did drop in the area though, including early snow covering parts of Beaver Creek Park south of Havre and more of the mountains.

The temperatures Wednesday were well below the norm - a high of 42 compared to a norm of 74, with a low of 34 compared to the norm of 44 - but nowhere near records. The records for Sept. 10 show a low of 29 in 1896 and the 28 degrees this morning faces a record of 23 degrees in 1889 and 1989.

Although the snow was early - and close to a record date - its presence also didn't quite set any records

The earliest recorded snowfall in the area National Weather Service could find this morning for this area was for Big Sandy, which had a record of measurable snow on Sept. 5 in 1934. Chinook was close behind with a tenth of an inch recorded on Sept. 7, 1907.

Havre's earliest measurable snow in the records was Sept. 10, although trace amounts of snow had been recorded in the city as early as Sept. 2. Chester's earliest recorded measurable snow was an inch on Sept. 12, 1915.

And the freezing temperature also is early but not quite a record.

The earliest recorded drop to 28 degrees was in Chester Aug. 17, 1946.

The weather is expected to return to late summer or fall-like conditions, with highs in the 50s to 60s over the weekend with highs going back to the 70s next week. Lows are expected to be in the mid-30s Saturday and back into the 40s Sunday night through the middle of next week. No precipitation is expected in the area through the middle of next week.