Pacific storms to clash with Arctic air over Northwest

AccuWeather

A series of storms from the Pacific will collide with frigid air to spread rain and snow across the Northwest and northern Rockies into the weekend.

Transcript

00:00 We've been talking for days here about

00:02 our series of storms across the country,

00:04 and here's the thing.

00:05 They've all got to start somewhere,

00:07 and while they might not be

00:08 forming in the northwest,

00:09 they're getting in the northwest

00:11 first before anywhere else.

00:12 And you can see we're still dealing

00:14 with our latest storm moving across

00:16 the northwest, not just the PNW,

00:18 but the interior as well.

00:19 Back up into the northern Rockies,

00:21 some thumping snow into the Bitterroot

00:22 Range into the Lewis Range of Montana,

00:24 and again into the Cascades.

00:26 We're still going on the snowfall.

00:27 In fact,

00:28 we do have winter weather watches.

00:29 Warnings and advisories out for a lot

00:31 of people across the PNW in the

00:33 interior northwest even as you're

00:35 heading out towards cities like Boise.

00:36 We are in a winter storm warning and

00:38 then as you look to this dark blue

00:41 area just into the southeast corner

00:43 of Idaho just stretching over the

00:44 state line toward Montana.

00:46 We are dealing with a blizzard

00:48 warning out for today.

00:49 Now please make sure you're staying

00:50 off the roads if you can in these areas.

00:53 Remember,

00:53 a blizzard is in a run of the mill.

00:56 Snowstorm here.

00:56 It means that not only will you

00:58 have a chance of snowfall probability

01:00 dropping below quarter mile,

01:01 but winds gusting or wind speeds of

01:03 35 miles per hour or more falling

01:05 and blowing snow and all that will

01:06 last for at least three or more hours.

01:08 That's an intense storm,

01:09 my friends,

01:10 and you don't want to be out

01:11 in the middle of it now.

01:13 How much snow are we actually

01:14 getting with this series of storms?

01:16 Well, Monday to Friday.

01:17 These are the grand totals here,

01:18 and we're almost done.

01:19 I mean,

01:20 we've made it through Thursday at least,

01:21 but here's what we're looking at.

01:23 The heaviest snow back into the

01:24 higher elevations of the Cascades,

01:26 not just of Washington,

01:27 but down through Oregon as well.

01:28 You're looking at about a 10 inch

01:30 area in your 24 to 48 inch range,

01:32 so about 2 to 4 feet.

01:34 I want to mention though,

01:35 look at your Accuweather local

01:36 storm X of 100 inches of snow.

01:38 That means if we see localized

01:39 reports of 100 inches,

01:41 we're not going to be surprised,

01:42 especially in those high elevation mountains.

01:44 Then as you're looking a little

01:45 further into the interior Northwest

01:47 cities like Spokane,

01:47 you're just on that line of 6 to 12.

01:50 Right on the line.

01:51 I'd give you about six or so by

01:53 the end of the week Salt Lake City

01:55 into the Wasatch some good snow as well.

01:57 The Wasatch Valley itself.

01:58 A little lower in elevation.

02:00 You're looking more in that three to six range,

02:02 but into the Wasatch itself you're looking

02:04 at tremendous amount of snow this week.

02:06 Skiers and snowboarders.

02:06 I think you're going to like this in the

02:09 long run, but I wouldn't get out in the

02:11 mountain right now while the storm is

02:12 passing and conditions are really windy

02:14 and honestly just kind of uncomfortable.

02:16 Speaking of which, well,

02:16 guess what?

02:17 As this storm passes,

02:18 here comes the coldest air of

02:20 the season moving in from the North.

02:21 We're talking about an Arctic blast here.

02:23 Look how temperatures dive in Helena,

02:25 MT.

02:25 You're way below zero by Friday,

02:27 and these are just the air temperatures.

02:29 17 below on Friday in Helena,

02:31 MT 10 below on Saturday and

02:33 would you look at that?

02:34 We warm up to a toasty 6 below by the

02:37 time we get to Sunday afternoon early

02:39 Saturday morning your record challenging

02:41 lows are going to be ridiculous.

02:43 OK, you ready for this?

02:45 Haver, MT 45 below zero.

02:46 That would absolutely blast past

02:48 the daily record of 35 below.

02:50 Set back in 1916,

02:52 1979 and 1997.

02:53 Great Falls 37 below 27 below.

02:55 And Billings and even looking at a

02:58 measly 21 below zero in Rapid City,

03:00 SD. Make sure you are ready for

03:03 a big cold snap later this weekend.

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