Record snow, cold, slams northern U.S. Rockies with winter-like weather
Sept 30 (Reuters) – Midwinter-like weather clobbered the northern Rockies Sunday and into Monday, making early Autumn feel like deep winter, while as much as 4 feet (121 cm) of snow fell in places and hard-hit Montana declared a state of emergency to clear blocked roads.
“You have to go back to the 1930s before you find another storm like this, this early in the season,” said Josh Weiss, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s (NWS) Weather Prediction Center.
“A pretty good swath of the northwest got 2-3 feet (60-91 cm) of snow,” Weiss said. “It’s a pretty good storm.”
About 19 inches of snow fell in northwestern Washington state, and light snow also fell in areas of California, Nevada, Wyoming, Oregon and Idaho, forecasters said.
Another 1-2 inches (2.5 – 5 cm) of snow was expected by mid-Monday in spots, with winter storm warnings in effect for western Montana and the mountains of northern Washington and northern Idaho.
- A snowstorm slammed the northern Rockies.
- Some parts of Montana had blizzard conditions and well over a foot of snow.
- Wet snow and high winds led to tree damage and power outages.
- Some lower elevations also picked up a record September snowfall.
A historic September snowstorm blasted parts of the northern Rockies with heavy, wet snow and high winds, leading to power outages and tree damage, and was accompanied by record-cold temperatures for the end of September and early October.
Over a dozen locations in northern Montana picked up over a foot of snow. The highest snowfall total was 48 inches (4 feet) in Browning, Montana, about 105 miles northwest of Great Falls. East Glacier Park had measured 24 inches of snow.
— Mina (@Mina89564837) September 29, 2019