As expected, following widespread 80s to near 90 Sunday across Montana, it was snowing and stuck in the 30s Monday afternoon and this afternoon, some mountain communities are failing to even get out of the 20s thanks to a cold system descending south out of British Columbia.

Great Falls 3pm temperature Sunday was 80 degrees and the same time 24 hours later it was 38.

Some Montana snow scenes from the last 24 hours.

Lewiston Divide

Bozeman Pass

Montana/Idaho border

Lost Trail Pass

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This afternoon looks to be 20-30 below normal for mid May.

High replacing low pressure with arctic air in place means an unusually frigid night by mid May standards.

We’ve seen some nasty severe weather in recent afternoon and evenings all due to a powerful storm system spinning over the Plains, separating unusual cold with unusual warm. The result in between in tornadoes and huge hail.

N of Stillwater, Oklahoma

Wynnewood, Oklahoma

Lincoln, Nebraska

Lincoln, Nebraska

The severe weather threat remains today.

The SE-bound Montana system opens the fridge door to a much large swathe of the country this workweek.

This is followed by a stronger push of arctic air this weekend.

So, upcoming 5 days has solidly below normal over Montana while it’s above normal over the Carolinas.

The 6-10 shows the major mid May cold coming down.

However, the following 5 days shows major ridging and summer warmth.

See this morning’s video.

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