GREAT FALLS, Mont. (NMB) – The upcoming winter season is expected to be colder and wetter than normal on the Hi-Line, according to Francis Kredensor, National Weather Service Meteorologist out of Great Falls.
“Here in Havre and other places on the Hi-Line, the (NWS) goes towards a 40 percent chance of below-normal (temperatures), and only a 20 percent chance of above normal. The precipitation forecast is a little more confident. They are getting closer to a 50 percent chances of a wetter than normal winter.”
Kredensor says this is in part because we are in a La Niña year.
“What typically happens in a La Niña winter is the polar jets can very frequently get stuck in this position, where that will direct shots of cold air down from northern Canada and Alaska. Meanwhile, the Pacific jet stream will occassionally inject moisture into the northwest US and into the northern Rockies.”
This forecast is for meteorological winter, which runs from December 1st to February 28th.
However, the next few weeks are expected to be warmer and dryer than the recent weather the Hi-Line has experienced.
