Storm stronger than expected in Havre area

Havre Daily News/Lindsay Brown

A snow-covered barn Wednesday afternoon in the Bear Paw Mountains, south of Havre.

A storm originally expected to lessen by Tuesday night has lingered with the on-again, off-again characteristic of this winter, with National Weather Service announcing a winter storm warning for Chouteau, Fergus, Hill and Judith Basin counties this morning.

The forecast for warmer, milder weather continues, however, with Havre's high Friday predicted at 34 degrees.

The snow, which let up Tuesday afternoon before returning Wednesday and this morning, was expected to taper off by late this morning, but a swath from Inverness through Big Sandy to Fort Benton and east to Lewistown was expected to drop 6-12 inches of snow, with areas outside that band expected to receive 2-4 inches of snow.

A winter weather advisory was in place for much of the middle portion of Montana, with a wind chill advisory set for most of the eastern part of the state.

The storm also brought expected bitterly cold temperatures, which lingered longer than expected.

Weather Service reported at its station at the Havre City-County Airport west of town a low Tuesday at 8:03 p. m. of minus 8, with a high Wednesday of 9 and a low that night of minus 3.

Those temperatures are far from a record for Havre, with the extreme on Jan. 29 set at minus 44 and minus 43 for Jan. 30, both in 1969.

The Weather Service forecast for the Havre area calls for a chance of snow through Friday, with temperatures moderating. A low in the teens — colder farther east — is expected tonight with highs in the 30s Friday and even into the 40s by Sunday.