Post by Nictoshek on Jul 28, 2015 13:44:06 GMT -7
Snow in Jackson Hole, Wyo. (Jackson Hole via Instagram)
‘Exceptional’ cold front blankets Montana, Wyoming peaks with rare July snow
By Jason Samenow July 28
On Monday, an unusually intense cold front — which forecasters described as “exceptional” — swept through the northern Rockies. The front set the stage for a rare July snow event that deposited up to several inches at above 8,000 feet elevations in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.
“This pattern should not happen in July,” commented the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast office in Billings, which is bracing for its “windiest July day ever” in the front’s wake.
After the blast of cold air arrived Monday, snow was reported at Glacier National Park (8,000 feet elevation) in Montana, as well as the Big Sky (Mont.) and Jackson Hole (Wyo.) ski areas.
“In my 27 years as the chief meteorologist for KXLF/KBZK, I have only reported a few times that snow is falling in SW Montana in July,” said Mike Heard, a television meteorologist for the affiliate serving Bozeman and southwest Montana. “Today [Monday] is one of those days.”
Here’s another eyewitness report from Monday, via the Great Falls Tribune:
“This morning it was snowing right where the ski lifts start and all the way up the mountain,” said Tom Conway, assistant golf pro at Big Sky Resort south of Bozeman. “At our elevation on the golf course, about 6,500 feet, it was raining. But at 9,000 feet there was about an inch or two of accumulation.”
“I’ve been here for four summers,” Conway added, “and this is the first time I’ve seen it snow in July. It was a pretty crazy day.”
The snow and cold were surely a shock, as the same areas were awash in mid-summer warmth over the weekend.
In Missoula, where a trace of snow was reported, afternoon temperatures were only in the upper 40s Monday after they had been in the upper 80s on Saturday.
