Sunday, December 14, 2008

Enter: The Cold

Last evening, I was sitting a long table celebrating Tony Laubach's graduation (double major) from Metro State when the weather outside turned frightful! We had enjoyed a high in the mid 50's yesterday, but while the revelry took place, a strong front plowed down the Front Range, dropping temperatures forty degrees or so and providing lift for some snow showers. While I didn't end up with much snow (not measured, but estimated at 2-3"), the wind blew it around into some nice drifts. Not to mention the fact that it bottomed out at 0ºF at my apartment. (Denver International Airport saw -3ºF).

The sun is finally out now ... just in time to head to more parties of the holiday and graduation variety. But first, let's talk about the cold farther to the north.

I've done an unofficial minimum temperature survey of various stations in Montana and have come up with the following list. Keep in mind that quality control may be lacking as many of these observations came from Montana's SNOTEL and other various mesonets in Big Sky Country.

METAR sites:
-25º Lewistown
-24º Cut Bank
-23º Great Falls
-20º Havre

OTHER STATIONS:
Rocky Mountain Front Area:
-34º Waterton National Park Gate (ALBERTA, CANADA)
-30º Mount Lockhart
-28º Badger Pass
-27º Browning
-26º Many Glacier
-25º Sweetgrass
-24º East Glacier Park
-24º Saint Mary

Central Montana Mountains (Big, Little Belt Mountains, Crazy Mountains):
-33º Crystal Lake
-30º Pichfoot Creek
-30º Boulder Mountain

Southwest Montana Mountains
-25º Big Hole Pass

Right now, the colder readings are starting to come from far NE Montana and the Dakotas. Temperatures are still falling in the area with strong winds. Wind chills are touching -50ºF in some areas. Blizzard warnings have been dropped in Montana, but remain in the Dakotas.


So congrats Tony!

... and it's currently 4.6ºF and sunny here!

Dann.

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