Big freeze on its way

Next year will certainly start out a cold one. Starting Sunday through next week, a cold wave is expected, with

temperatures dipping from 30 to 40 below in some places of Glacier National Park and a gusty wind when the cold air first hits.

The National Weather Service is predicting a storm Sunday night, which will bring fairly light snow — just 2 to 5 inches, possibly even less, depending on how fast the arctic air intrudes.

The heaviest snow will likely fall along the I-90 corridor, said meteorologist Dave Noble. But the wind Monday, coupled with the cold air will drop wind chills down to 15 to 25 below.

Temperatures will then fall at night from 15 to 25 below in the Flathead Valley, with areas like Polebridge dropping down to 30 to 40 below, Noble noted.

The problem is the prolonged cold, Noble noted. The area has already seen one bout of subzero weather this winter. On Dec. 17 it got down to 20 below at the airport, but it didn’t last long.

This event should go all week, he said. That could pose problems with homes that use heat pumps as heat sources, because they don’t work well in very cold weather, Noble noted.

The record cold temperature at Polebridge is 48 below, in West Glacier, 46 below. The record for Kalispell is 38 below, set in 1950.

The cold could freeze over Lake McDonald in Glacier. The Park’s largest lake last froze over completely in 2012.