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Kalispell Records Fall During Cold Snap

By Beacon Staff

The Flathead Valley recently experienced record-low temperatures that shattered several previous records, some more than 100 years old.

Officials at the National Weather Service station in Missoula said the freezing weather was due to an arctic front coming across the Continental Divide and stopping in the valleys across western Montana.

Kalispell broke several daily records for low temperatures. The 14-degree low on Oct. 8 broke the previous record of 16, set in 1985. The cold streak continued through the weekend, posting new record lows on Oct. 9 with 10 degrees, breaking the previous record from 1932.

Saturday, Oct. 10, started an especially chilly streak for the next couple days, with a low of 5 degrees. The previous record was 16 degrees, recorded in 1987. The maximum temperature that day, 34 degrees, also broke the lowest maximum temperature, previously recorded on that day in 1958.

On Sunday, Oct. 11, the daily high temperature was the lowest it has been since 1899, coming in at a brisk 32 degrees. The low was also a new record at 6 degrees, compared to the previous record of 20 degrees in 1987.

The weather stayed freezing through Monday, Oct. 12, when a new record low of 2 degrees beat out the 14 degrees posted in 2002. The high temperature of 36 degrees was the lowest it has been in 110 years, slighting the 1899 record by one degree.

The record cold snap lifted on Tuesday, Oct. 13. The weekly forecast predicts highs in the mid- to high-50s for the rest of the week and lows generally above freezing.