On Thursday evening, winter returned to Park County with snow for several hours — which accumulated prior to a light rain, followed by a dryer snow and increased winds — making for an icy morning on Friday.
Danielle Babcox, Park County Rural Fire District #1 public information officer and firefighter, said that the first semi-truck slide off from of the storm occurred around 9:30 am Friday at Interstate 90 at westbound mile marker 333, and the department anticipates worsening weather and increasing icy conditions through the weekend. No injuries were reported.
“It’s always better to be overprepared than to be unprepared for an event,” Babcox said. “Fill up your gas tank. Have essentials in case you get stranded and have a plan. There have been snow amounts across the board for both Big Timber, Livingston and Bozeman. Anywhere from 2 to 20 inches. So do yourself in favor and prepare, if you must travel.”
National Weather Service Billings’ meteorologist on duty, Brian Tesar, said we should see highs in the teens Saturday and low single-digits on Sunday, with lows as low as -10 degrees on Saturday night and as low as -20 on Sunday night. Monday will begin a gradual warm-up and we should see temperatures into the 30s resume by Thursday.
An email from Livingston School District Superintendent Lynne Scalia said the district was canceling bus service for Monday morning due to the anticipated weekend weather.
“We will not run buses on Monday morning due to the anticipated sub-zero temperatures and wind chill,” the email read. “We WILL run buses on Monday afternoon. Students unable to make it to school on Monday morning will be issued a weather-related absence. Please call into your schools to report the absence.”
“This weekend’s high school activities are canceled — wrestling (Hardin, Billings) and basketball (Townsend). Speech and Drama arrived safely in Sydney on Thursday,” read the email. “They will return when it is safe to be on the road. Currently, Speech and Drama is scheduled to return on Saturday evening. This may be delayed.”