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Wild temp swings hit, more in the forecast

Havre sees 70-degree change in four days

Less than a week after north-central Montana set record low temperatures and was in the national news as the cold spot in the nation, the weather is back above freezing with a more than 70-degree swing in four days.

But the forecast again calls for below-zero winter weather next week.

Chinook was listed as the cold spot in the nation Sunday with a low of minus 43, and tied with Mizpah, in Custer County, and Jordan, in Garfield County, for the U.S. cold spot Saturday at minus 42. It also set a new record Saturday for its coldest high temperature for Dec. 7, with its thermometers topping out at minus 14.

Havre set record cold temperatures for Friday and Saturday with the lows at minus 38 and minus 39.

Reports came in of minus 46 southeast of Chester and minus 44 in northern Hill and Liberty counties.

After another sharp drop Tuesday night, the weather has warmed, with more relatively balmy temperatures in the near term, but cold expected to come back next week.

Along with the 70-degree change from Saturday to Wednesday, Havre saw a swing of more than 40 degrees from its low to its high in less than 21 hours.

Weather Service reported a high of 33 degrees Wednesday at 11:43 p.m. at its recording station at the Havre City-County Airport west of town, following a drop in temperatures that led to a low of minus 11 at 2:51 Wednesday morning.

The forecast calls for warmer temperatures through the next few days after a drop back into the 20s Friday, then another sharp drop to lows below zero.

National Weather Service predicts a high today of 32 degrees with a low tonight of 9 degrees and with a high of 23 and a low of 6 Friday.

The high Saturday is expected to hit 33, with the high warming into the 40s by Sunday.

But the lows in the longer-range forecast are expected to drop back to below-zero temperatures, with highs in the single digits to teens and the lows again below zero by the middle of next week.

 

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