The Flathead Valley is expected to receive a winter storm Tuesday as an arctic front from Alberta brings plummeting temperatures, high winds and an inch or two of snow beginning between 8 and 11 a.m.

Bob Nester, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said visibility and wind chill will both be issues Tuesday, with wind gusts from the northeast at 40 miles per hour or higher.

Windy conditions will continue into the night. Coupled with dropping temperatures, wind chills are expected to reach 10 below by Tuesday afternoon, and dip into the negative 20s overnight.

Snowfall is forecast from midmorning to Tuesday night. Blowing snow could be present throughout the valley, with more severe impacts up Bad Rock Canyon.

“When that thing hits and we get that push of arctic air and precipitation during the day, that’s going to be the big impact,” Nester said. “It may not be a lot of snow, but it’s going to be potentially not a fun drive for a few hours.”

With less than two weeks to go before the lifts at Whitefish Mountain Resort are scheduled to start running, Big Mountain isn’t expected to get much of a dump: Only 3 to 4 inches are forecast.

Farther east, however, blizzard conditions will likely hit Marias Pass during the day Tuesday. The Weather Service predicts 6 to 10 inches of snow on the pass by Wednesday morning.

Later in the week, areas around Flathead Lake might see a couple of inches of lake-effect snow, although the Weather Service is not predicting that event with high confidence.

Depending on where the system sets up, Nester said a three- to four-mile swath along the lake could receive up to a couple inches late Wednesday or early Thursday.

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.