On Nov. 2, the temperature in Kalispell was a balmy 62 degrees, almost flip-flop weather for a Montanan.
Then on Nov. 24, the temperature fell to 12 degrees below zero, a drop of 74 degrees in only three weeks.
Winter came fast and hard, filling headlines with “extreme” storm warnings, only to mellow out into the more agreeable winter weather we’re now experiencing. While snow should continue to fall in the coming weeks, Crystal Lake of the National Weather Service in Missoula said temperatures should be closer to normal, reaching the 30s and high 20s.
“We won’t be looking at those extreme temperatures,” Lake said.
Following early November’s unseasonably warm weather, temperatures began to steadily decline until Nov. 20, when they dropped rapidly for the next several days. The high on Nov. 23 was four degrees and the low was negative five. The following day’s high was six degrees and its low was negative 12.
The low temperature on Nov. 24 was the 15th-coldest temperature ever recorded for November. The average temperature was 31 degrees less than historical average for that day. The weather began to warm on Nov. 25.
Snowfall recorded at Glacier Park International Airport, as of Nov. 29, is 12.7 inches, which is the 13th-most on record. The only record achieved in November was total rainfall on Nov. 17. The .43 inches broke the previous record from 1953 of .42 inches.
Nov. 2 High – 62 degrees
Nov. 24 Low – minus-12 degrees