October snowfall in Great Falls buries 95-year-old record

It's been the snowiest October on record in the Electric City after another fall snowstorm covered the city with 11 inches of fresh powder over the weekend, breaking the previous record set 95 years ago. 

Almost 2 feet fell on downtown Helena, the most in 60 years.

And when the two-day dump was over, Montanans awoke Sunday to below-zero temperatures — way below zero in some towns.

The state's coldest spot Sunday morning was western Montana's Potomac, east of Missoula, where it was 29 below.

"Just for the record the coldest low for the month of October in Montana is minus 30 and that was set at the Marias Pass Summit Oct. 31, 1935," said Paul Nutter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Great Falls.

And right behind that bone-chilling cold temperature was central Montana's Newlan Creek area north of White Sulphur Springs, where a 23-below temp was posted.

"We've had a trace or more of snow since the 16th," Nutter said of the city's snowy October Sunday morning, when Great Falls was digging out from under an avalanche of snow for the second consecutive weekend.

From Oct. 16 to Oct. 18, 14 inches of snow fell on the city.

More:Snowfall totals are in: 14 inches and two broken records in Great Falls

The 11.2 inches on this past Saturday and Sunday brought the October snow total to 27.7 inches in the past nine days, breaking the previous October record of 18.5 inches set in 1925.

"With seven days to go (in October)," Nutter added.

The third-snowiest October on record was last year, in 2019, when the city had 17 inches.

More:NOAA: Cold, snowy winter favored for Montana, northern U.S.

The normal for this stage of October is 3 inches.

Snowfall in Great Falls on Saturday alone was 7 inches, and 4 inches Friday.

Both broke daily records.

Another .02 of an inch fell overnight Saturday and Sunday morning.

Snowfall was even heavier in the capital city of Helena.

On Friday and Saturday, 17.6 inches of snowfall was recorded at the Helena Regional Airport, the sixth-highest two-day snowfall on record.

But Nutter said an official weather spotter reported 20 inches of snow in the downtown area, which typically gets more snow than the airport when northerly winds blow.

"They are going to be pretty close to 2 feet in the city of Helena near the Capitol," Nutter said. "So this was the biggest snowstorm in Helena since at least 1960."

A big dome of high pressure over the Gulf of Alaska is pushing warm air over Alaska, leaving Montana open to artic air being pushed down from Canada, Nutter said.

While that's created colder-than-average on the high plains and other parts of North America, warmer than average temperatures are being reported in Alaska, Nutter said.

More:City trees colorful this year following drab fall show in 2019

The high-temperature in Great Falls Saturday was 15, and the low, 2 degrees, compared to the normal high temperature of 54 and low of 31.

Temperatures Sunday were setting or tying new daily record lows across northcentral Montana, the Weather Service said.

It was 10 below at Browning, 12 degrees in Havre to eight below in White Sulphur Springs.

Blowing snow is expected Monday into Tuesday along the Rocky Mountain Front and adjacent plains creating poor visibility at times. 

Conditions are expected to improve Tuesday as winds diminish and warmer air moves in.

By this weekend, high temperatures are expected to be in the 50s, Nutter said.

Karl Puckett covers the city of Great Falls and Cascade County for the Tribune. He can be reached at kpuckett@greatfallstribune.com or 406-750-5383, or on Twitter at @GFTrib_KPuckett. 

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