WEST YELL - weather
There is always weather. Check the sections below for some really good weather. It happens.
Dave and Mike rolled out of Splitrock, Montana in Mike's robin blue fifteen year old T-Bird one late winter night headed for Tularosa, New Mexico. Traveling light made it forty-five minutes down the road before Mike wanted to stop. We parked the old roadster and entered The New Globe Bar in Christopher, Montana. Checked shirts, cowboy boots, weather and hand rolled cigarette faces greeted us beneath a bold display of western game animal stuffed trophies. Dave's eyes followed the pressed tin pattern in the ceiling, he looked at a full size wolf mount up on top of the back bar's cabinetry. The bartender was a leather skinned left over from some fifties western TV program. Dave inspected a stuffed, by a taxidermist, white Mountain Lion encased in a glass box. Mike was talking with some old stockman about the low cattle prices. (Source.)
New Dogma & Montan Springtime
When it's springtime in Montana,
and the gentle breezes blow,
About seventy miles an hour
And it's fifty-two below.
You can tell you're in Montana
'cause the snow's up to your butt,
And you take a breath of springtime air
And your nose holes both freeze shut.
The weather here is wonderful,
So I guess I'll hang around,
I could never leave Montana
My feet are frozen to the ground.
New Dogma & Fall Weather
Fall
is an ideal
time to visit Montana. The crowds are down and the
weather is beautiful. Expect cold nights and relatively warm
days. As
you get into October, snow is possible at any time in the mountains,
though unlikely to stick for too long. It's probably best to visit in
September or early October, as locations, gateway communitites and park
services start to close by the end of October.
Also, dressing in
layers is recommended.
Most of Montana's tourism is focused on the western portion of the state. The mountains start about in the center of the state. The attractions are anchored by Yellowstone National Park in the southwest corner (most of Yellowstone is actually in Wyoming), and Glacier National Park in the northwest corner. It is about an eight hour drive between the two. Banff is about another 7 hours, so it's conceivable to hit all three parks, but I'd recommend saving Banff for another trip.
For Yellowstone, you'd fly into Bozeman, MT or Jackson, WY. For Glacier, you'd fly into Kalispell, MT or possibly Spokane, WA. Unfortunately, there is really no cheap way to fly to Montana.
New Dogma & General Montana Weather
Cold waves, which cover parts of Montana on the average of 6 to 12 times a winter, are confined mostly to the sections northeast of a Glacier Park – Miles City line. A few of these cold waves cover the entire area east of the Divide, and will cover the State all the way from the Dakotas to Idaho.
These
cold waves do not now hold the dangers they did
years ago before transportation, roads, communications, and even
heating plants developed to their present levels.However, with temperatures well below zero accompanied by strong winds with blowing snow, these cold waves can be very inconvenient and even dangerous to the careless or inexperienced. In small areas ideally situated for radiation cooling, low tempertures can fall to -50° F or lower. The coldest ever observed was -70° F at Rogers Pass, 40 miles northwest of Helena, on January 20, 1954. This is the coldest of record for the entire United States, exclusive of Alaska. In contrast, the low at Helena that morning was only -36°F.
During the summer months hot weather occurs fairly often in the eastern parts of the State. The highest ever observed was 117° at Glendive on July 20, 1893, and Medicine Lake on July 5, 1937. Temperatures of over 100° sometimes occur in the lower elevation areas west of the Divide during the summer, but hot spells are less frequent and of shorter duration than in the plains sections. Hot spells nowhere become oppressive, however, because summer nights almost invariably are cool and pleasant. In the areas with elevations above 4,000 feet, extremely hot weather is almost unknown. Summer days, however, are usually warm enough for light summer clothing. Winters, while usually cold, have few extended cold spells.
Between cold waves there are periods, sometimes longer than 10 days, of mild but often windy weather. These warm, windy winter periods occur almost entirely along the eastern slopes of the Divide and are popularly known as “chinook” weather. The so-called “chinook” belt extends from the Browning-Shelby area southeastward to the Yellowstone Valley above Billings. Through this belt, “chinook” winds frequently reach speeds of 25 to 50 mph or more and can persist, with little interruptions, for several days. In January, the coldest month, temperature averages range from 11° F for the Northeastern Division to 22° F for the South Central (upper Yellowstone Valley) Division.In some areas east of the Continental Divide, January or February can average zero or below, but such occurrences range from infrequent to about once in 10 to 15 years in the coldest spots.
Most Montana lakes freeze over every winter, but Flathead Lake between Polson and Kalispell, freezes over completely only during the coldest winters, about 1 year in 10. All rivers carry floating ice during the late winter or early spring. Few streams freeze solid; water generally continues to flow beneath the ice. During the coldest winters “anchor” ice, which builds from the bottom of shallow streams, on rare occasions causes some flooding
In July, the warmest month, temperature averages range from 74° for the Southeastern Division to 64° F for the Southwestern Division. This mid-summer warmth is fairly steady, very seldom severe, and is tempered by normal nighttime mnima in the 50’s and 60’s. Miles City, one of the State’s warmest places in July, has a July average minimum temperature of 60° and an average maximum of 90° F. Generally, adequate moisture permits rapid plant and crop development during most growing seasons.
