Blizzard warning issued for Marias Pass
A woman crosses Nucleus Avenue in Columbia Falls during a blizzard in this file photo.
Folks heading over Marias Pass might want to wait 24 hours or so.
The National Weather Service in Great Falls has issued a blizzard warning for the pass and locales to the east from midnight tonight through midnight Friday.
An additional 5 to 10 inches of snow is expected, with 10 to 20 inches in the mountains. Lows will be in the 20s overnight, but the winds will gust up to 65 mph, causing whiteout conditions at times over the pass and to the east.
In the Columbia Falls-West Glacier area, winds won’t be as brisk, but we’re still expecting 4 to 6 more inches of snow in the next 24 hours, the Weather Service is saying, with a chance of freezing rain or rain in some locations, but areas closer to Glacier should see all snow.
By later Friday, winds should calm and Saturday will be mostly sunny east of the divide, though still snowy west of the divide in Glacier Park.
Temperatures will moderate into the 30s.
Next week is looking calm, with highs in the 30s, but inversions as well.