Strong Wind, Snow Blast Northwest U.S.
Hurricane-force wind gusts roared across the Rocky Mountain Range Tuesday night and Wednesday morning as the weather pattern becomes much more active across this part of the country.
Big Sky's big sky was obscured by clouds and precipitation on Tuesday thanks to a cold front that's still bringing snow to the region this morning.
The front moves east today along with a chance for isolated severe storms in the Upper Midwest. #MTwx pic.twitter.com/5oj8F6YSJe
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) October 14, 2020
Big Sky, Montana recorded a maximum wind gust of 71 miles per hour early Wednesday. That wasn’t even the strongest gust!
24-Hour Maximum Wind Gusts as of Wednesday
- Berthoud Pass, Colorado: 104 mph
- Arlington, WY: 81 mph
- Cameron Pass, CO: 73 mph
- Big Sky, MT: 71 mph
- Craters of Moon, ID: 70 mph
- Hodges, MT: 64 mph
The strong wind came in via a cold front that also provided beneficial moisture to parts of the Northwest. These locations are battling severe drought and any moisture is needed.
Light #hail fell into parts of the #PacificNorthwest earlier in the day today. The waves of moisture just seem to keep coming out in the northwest! #wawx pic.twitter.com/aruHYs5S6c
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) October 14, 2020
A strong upper-level trough has allowed some Pacific moisture to move onshore alongside a series of surface cold fronts that will continue to bring in some much needed rain and even some mountain snow.
Moisture in the form of rain and snow showers will taper off through the day on Wednesday with the heaviest of precipitation already behind us. However another batch of rain and snow will arrive later this week. Take a look:
Unfortunately, the wind will continue to be robust through the end of the week. As each cold front passes through, wind gusts may reach up to 60 mph! Since we have already observed wind gusts up to 100 mph this week in Colorado, locally higher gusts will be possible.
Burn bans are in effect due to the dry and windy weather, while fire weather warnings have been issued too. Check your local National Weather Service Office and Emergency Management agency for more information. Join us at :50 past the hour, every hour for updates on the Western region forecast.