Winter weather surprises county

What may have been a beautiful mid-autumn weekend, was quickly overtaken by one of the earliest winter storms Montana has seen in a long time. The snow fell and did not stop. Despite warnings from the local weather stations, a rather large and thick blanket of snow left much of Sanders County shocked; as this is quite peculiar, even for Montana weather. Thompson Falls alone, saw a foot of snow overnight. According to Missoula's U.S. National Weather Service station, the town of Plains got a full 14 inches of snow.

A historic event was witnessed this last weekend no matter where you were in the state. The Missoula Weather Service said in a Facebook post, "The all-time, two-day October snowfall record is 15 inches set in 1914." They are calling this weekend's snow storm, "the biggest October snow storm in over 100 years." This is also the second snowiest October on record. As if the bucket of snow wasn't enough to make us all want to go into an early hibernation, next came the rapid temperature drops.

Record-breaking cold temperatures were seen all over Montana. The National Weather Service said the arctic air, combined with the historic snowfall, created optimal conditions for dangerously cold temperatures. The coldest temperature in the contiguous U.S. was recorded Sunday morning in our very own part of Western Montana. Potomac reported a low temperature of 29 degrees below zero.

"This is the lowest temp measured at any official climate site anywhere in the U.S. so early in the season in any year," the Potomac Weather Station said in a social media post. It was said Sunday night we would see more record-breaking cold heading into Monday morning. The weather service was right. Sanders County made the roster of recorded low temps. Hot Springs recorded a notable low of -14 degrees Monday morning.

As the recent snow storm and temperature drops took everyone by surprise, forecasts say the weather should warm up as the week goes on.