Winter Storm Watch for Montana’s Mountains

Our weekend weather is actually turning even more toward winter in the latest updates, with the National Weather Service issuing the first Winter Storm Warning we've seen in months.

The warnings run through Saturday and Sunday, and include all the high country along the Northern Divide, including Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness, as well as the Madison Range, the Beartooth Plateau, Crazy Mountains, and the Pryors. Forecasters say there's a possibility for as much as 6 to 8 inches of snow in some locations down to 5,000 to 6,000 feet. Snow levels at Logan Pass could be as low as 3500 on Sunday from this incoming Canadian system.

After the mountain snow, the coldest morning of the fall

Then, it's all about the cold weather, especially in the valleys of Western Montana.

Temperatures are likely to plunge into the low to mid-20s Monday morning. In Eastern Montana, morning lows will be the upper 20s into the 30s.

     That will be followed by a gradual warming trend and a return to more normal temperatures next week.

RELATED: Can Squirrels Predict Winter Weather?

Missoula man faces life in prison for drug murders

He left his victims' bodies along a road in the high desert. Now, a Missoula man is facing life in prison when he'll be sentenced in December for his role in a murder-for-hire scheme that federal prosecutors say was tied to a marijuana smuggling operation. 

Corey Spurlock was convicted by a Reno jury last week for the murders five years ago in California. Prosecutors say Spurlock killed his fellow trafficker, Will Larson, and his wife months after a buyer had vanished in Mound House, Nevada, in June 2020. 

Prosecutors say Spurlock became suspicious of Larson after hearing the buyer's mother on a podcast, talking about her son's disappearance. He was convicted of fatally shooting and stabbing the Larsons and leaving their bodies alongside Highway 395 outside Bridgeport, in the high desert of Eastern California. 

     The body of the buyer, Jered Stefansky, was found the next year.  

Cascade Jail running full

The Cascade County Jail continues to run above capacity over the past month, and while most of the inmates are local arrests, a high percentage remain federal prisoners. 

Numbers released this week show the jail housing as many as 375 inmates since mid-September, which is 10 above capacity. In the week of September 18th, 189 inmates were from Cascade County, with 134 federal prisoners.

     State prisoners make up the balance. 

Turning Point comes to MSU next week

Security is expected to be tight this coming week, as Turning Point USA comes to the MSU campus for the rally that had been planned before last month's assignation of founder Charlie Kirk in Utah.

Turning Point is renting off the Brick Breedan Fieldhouse for the Tuesday evening event, with plans for around 3-thousand people to attend. Governor Gianforte and former presidential candidate Victor Ramaswamy, who's now running for governor in Ohio, will be the keynote speakers.

     Bags will be banned inside the field house, and attendees will be screened using metal detectors, according to a report from Montana Public Radio.

All about the apple pies on Saturday

Cool weather isn't expected to dampen the enthusiasm for pies in the Bitterroot tomorrow, as the Ravalli County Museum holds its annual "McIntosh Apple Day", which draws thousands of people to Hamilton. The event starts at 9 with the "Biggest Bake Sale Under the Big Sky", a celebration of the Bitterroot's historic apple orchards.