Winter Storm Warning remains in effect until 5 PM MST Saturday...
* what... heavy snow and blowing snow occurring. Travel will be very difficult to impossible. Additional snow accumulations of 4 to 8 inches, are expected.
* Where... Flathead Lake, Flathead Valley, Mission Valley, and Polson.
* When... until 5 PM MST Saturday.
* Additional details... winds gusting as high as 30 mph will cause areas of blowing and drifting snow. Cold wind chills as low as 10 below zero will cause frostbite in as little as 30 minutes to exposed skin.
As the day went on the storm got worse. This morning it was cold and a challenge to get hay and feed the cattle. Once I fed the cattle I loaded more hay into the pickup so that in the late afternoon all I had to do was drive into the corral and unload the hay. This morning I had very cold fingers by the time I was done even though I wore double gloves. I had hoped the worst was today and tomorrow would be a little better. But as the day went on the wind got worse. The 20+ mph wind speed now is 30+ after dark. The wind gusts are up to 40 mph. Tomorrow morning may be a challenge to feed the cattle.
Other than when they ate, the cattle stood either in the loafing shed and just outside of it and out of the wind. The few cattle standing outside were white from the snow that fell on them and did not melt off their fur.
The snow prediction was 12 to 18 (or more) inches of snow. Since the wind is so strong it is hard to tell how much snow we have gotten. It didn't really seem this afternoon that much snow was falling but by evening areas out of the wind had deep snow. That snow is dense so it may be more wind driven than falling.
The wind is so strong, standing by the front door, I could easily feel the breeze coming around the edges of the door. And that is with a screened door outside the front door. I put rags in between the doors to stop the wind coming from the crack under the screened door. That helped a little. Otherwise, once I cleaned my wood stove and restarted the fire, the stove has easily heated the house. I love my wood stove.
The wind is really howling. All sorts of sounds from outside of things rattling. An old ceramic wall hanging outside my front door blew off late afternoon and shattered. The temp is 6 degrees and the wind chill right now is -12 degrees. That is still warmer than the actual air temperature of -15 degrees where my brother lives in North Dakota.
The following photos were taken this morning before the wind got crazy, and when one could see.
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