Rain, Snow Hit Northwest; Southeast Lows Set Marks

Heavy snow fell Sunday in Montana’s mountains as rain and snow fell elsewhere in the Northwest, while record lows were reached in 11 Southeastern cities.

Winter storm warnings were posted for the mountains of northwestern Montana, much of Montana east of the Continental Divide, northwestern Wyoming and the central Idaho mountains.

By Sunday morning, two inches of snow had accumulated at East Glacier, Mont., and heavy snow continued to fall. Rain had changed to snow across north-central Montana, where Havre reported an inch of new snow.

A foot of snow could accumulate in Montana’s northwest mountains and foothills by today and up to eight inches in the central Idaho mountains by tonight, the National Weather Service said.

Rain showers were scattered over Washington state and northern Idaho, and showers and a few thundershowers were reported across California and Nevada.

Record lows for the date, in the 30s and low 40s, were tied or broken Sunday morning in Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Kentucky. The low of 35 degrees at El Dorado, Ark., was two degrees below the old record, which had stood since 1935, and the low of 39 at Shreveport, La., was two degrees below a record on the books since 1932.

A frost warning was issued across northeastern and east-central Ohio and the mountains of western Pennsylvania.

Thunderstorms rumbled over extreme southern Florida and the Florida Keys, and a few showers lingered over the upper Great Lakes.

Skies were mostly sunny from the southern Atlantic Coast, across the lower half of the Mississippi Valley and the central and southern plains. Skies were mostly cloudy from the northern plains through the Great Lakes, the central Appalachians and the Northeast. A few showers lingered over the upper Great Lakes.

Gusty winds of 20 to 30 m.p.h. howled from the Great Lakes to New England.

Temperatures around the nation at 3 p.m. EDT ranged from 31 at Cut Bank, Mont., to 96 at Imperial, Calif. The low for the day was 13 degrees at Gunnison, Colo.

Snow was forecast from Montana across northern Wyoming and the central Idaho mountains. Rain showers were forecast from the northern Intermountain region across the Great Basin, northern Arizona, Utah, western Colorado, southern Wyoming and the northern plains. Scattered showers were forecast over the upper Mississippi Valley.

Highs in the 20s and 30s were predicted across Montana; in the 40s and 50s from Washington state across the northern Intermountain region, the northern plains and the upper Great Lakes to northern New England; in the 80s over the lower Mississippi Valley, the southern half of the plains and the Southwest, and in the low 90s over the Southwestern desert and western Texas.