HELENA, Mont. (AP) ‐ Some schools in Montana took their earliest snow day in memory Monday after a blizzard dumped several feet of snow, while plunging temperatures threatened crops across other parts of the Rocky Mountains in an unusually early blast of wintry weather.Freeze warnings were in effect in parts of Utah and Idaho, and temperatures were expected to drop into the teens and 20s in those states and Montana overnight and Tuesday morning. The cold set in with the lingering fall storm system that dumped snow for three days across much of central and western Montana, including over 4 feet (1 meter) on the Blackfeet Reservation and Glacier National Park.
While parts of the Rockies were dealing with frigid temperatures and unusually early snow, warnings of extreme wildfire danger emerged in eastern Utah and much of Colorado, where temperatures as high as the mid-80s (30 degrees Celsius), gusty winds and dry air were expected to create critical conditions.
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has declared an emergency after the storm brought heavy, wet snow and high winds that closed roads, downed trees and caused scattered power outages. The declaration allows the state to mobilize resources to help areas that were hit.
The snow and treacherous roads led to school closures Monday in Montana towns near the Rocky Mountains that received the most snow. School superintendents in some of those communities said they couldn’t remember the last time they had to cancel school this early because of snow.