Meteorologists Report On Weather Conditions In Region

A weather briefing for eastern Montana and northern Wyoming by the National Weather Service last week reviewed the last few weeks and looked into the future.

Meteorologists John Wetenkamp, of Billings, and Scott Rozanski, of Glasgow, noted that eastern Montana received a decent amount of moisture on Sunday, Aug. 20. Rain totals included 0.60 inches in Wolf Point, 0.36 inches in Glasgow and 0.29 inches in Sidney.

For the month of July, most of eastern Montana experienced near average temperatures. Jordan and Winnett recorded slightly above normal temperatures.

Precipitation has been below normal for eastern Montana.

July ended on a big note when the area experienced a strong wind storm on Sunday, July 30. Winds were as strong as 80 miles per hour. Half-dollar size hail was reported.

“It was a really interesting storm for the Glasgow area,” Rozanski said.

For the first week of the month of August, temperatures have been a couple of degrees above normal in eastern Montana.

Record highs were felt in Wolf Point with 101 degrees and Glasgow with 103 degrees on Aug. 15. Wolf Point had high temperatures of 93 degrees on Aug. 17 and 99 degrees on Aug. 18.

On Aug. 19, Billings broke a record for the warmest minimum temperature of 76 degrees. The old mark was set in 1936.

For the year to date, Glasgow is at 96 percent of its normal precipitation. Glasgow is 0.41 inches behind the average amount. Billings is at 140 percent above its normal precipitation.

The seasonal forecast for December through February calls for above temperatures and below precipitation.

“That doesn’t mean you won’t have three-day snaps of bitter cold and a lot of snow,” Rozanski said.