Bah humbug: Much of Montana likely going without a white Christmas

Sorry, Mr. Crosby, this year you might just have to dream about it. 

According to the National Weather Service, the chance of a white Christmas is low in Missoula, Billings, Bozeman and valleys in the Flathead. In Great Falls and Helena, it’s a toss-up, but Montanans at higher elevations and residents in the northeastern corner of the state are likely to wake up to some snow on the ground.

The disappointing forecast for snow enthusiasts is the result of southwest winds that continue to import warm, wet weather into the state, according to Jeff Kitsmiller, a meteorologist with the weather service based in Missoula. 

“This weather pattern that we’ve been in, where we keep getting a little bit of moisture and then a warm up, is continuing through Christmas,” Kitsmiller said. 

A trough of low pressure is hovering just off the West Coast, propelling Pacific air northeast across Montana and effectively blocking cold Canadian air from making its way south, Kitsmiller said. The state’s mountains might receive some snowfall, but existing snow in western valleys is likely to melt, according to Kitsmiller. Missoula and Kalispell will likely miss out on a white Christmas for the third consecutive year, the first streak of that length since 1955, Kitsmiller said. 

In Bozeman, the limited amount of snow currently on the ground is likely to be melted by warm temperatures and washed away by rain before Christmas, according to Matt Ludwig, a lead meteorologist at the weather service in Great Falls. 

And the state’s southeastern plains are more likely to have a gray Christmas than a white one, according to Logan Torgerson, a Billings-based meteorologist with the weather service. Temperatures could stretch into the 50s on Christmas, potentially usurping the Magic City’s current holiday record, when temperatures reached 56 degrees in 2005, Torgerson said.

Also a surprise to meteorologists during the last week of December: Less than half of the state is currently covered by snow, according to Jim Brusda with the weather service in Great Falls. 

“Great Falls, Lewistown, Miles City, Billings, Helena, Havre, Cutbank — that whole area is brown,” Brusda said. 

In northeastern Montana, low temperatures mean snow on the ground is likely to persist through Christmas, although freezing rain is more likely than additional snowfall, according to Ben Stoinski, a Glasgow-based meteorologist with the weather service.

Missoula-based Kitsmiller also said that it’s not clear whether the new year will bring a more traditional winter.

“It still is not that certain yet,” he said.