MISSOULA — The arctic cold that has hit Western Montana broke some records over the weekend.
Hamilton saw its second coldest-ever temperature on Saturday at -38º, which was recorded at the Hamilton airport.
Also on Saturday, Stevensville checked in at -40º while Ronan and Libby both saw lows of -35º. Additionally, it was -35º in Corvallis.
Swan Lake saw a record low of -40° while Whitefish hit a record of -36° on Saturday. Kalispell and Seely Lake also saw record cold temperatures at -35°.
Clinton checked in at -13º and Plains on Saturday saw a low of -27º.
The thermometer in Missoula hit a chilly -22º, short of the record low temperature of -33º, which was set in January of 1957.
It was even colder in other parts of Montana on Saturday.
The coldest confirmed windchill was -74° at Judith Peak in Fergus County while the second coldest wind chill was -72° in Larslan, which is northeast of Glasgow in Valley County in northeastern Montana.
Meanwhile, the town of Chester west of Havre on the Hi-Line had the coldest air temperature in the contiguous U.S. on Saturday morning with a temperature of -54°.
It may have been colder in Elk Park and Newlan Creek, but the temperature sensors in those locations stopped working once they got to -50°.
Here is a list of the new record lows that were set on Saturday, January 13, 2024, for the main climate locations within Montana.
Location: Saturday's Low Temp; (Old Record & Year)
- Billings: -26° (-22° in 1972 & 1997)
- Bozeman: -45° (-32° in 1997)
- Butte: -45° (-34° in 1997)
- Cut Bank: -41° (-36° in 1972)
- Dillon: -41° (-17° in 2007)
- Glasgow: -35° (-33° in 1916)
- Great Falls: -37° (-30° in 1911, 1971, & 1972)
- Hamilton: -38° (-17° in 1993)
- Havre: -42° (-35° in 1916, 1979, & 1997)
- Helena: -36° (-34° in 1888)
- Kalispell: -33° (-24° in 1972)
- Lewistown: -43° (-34° in 1972)
- Missoula: -22° (-17° in 1993)
Montana is home to the coldest air temperature ever recorded in the contiguous United States: -70°. It was recorded at Rogers Pass (several miles northeast of Lincoln) on January 20, 1954.
- information from MTN Meteorologist Ryan Dennis included in this report
