Flathead Valley residents enjoying the recent warm weather should brace themselves for a big change this weekend. Winter weather returns with a vengeance beginning Friday night as a cold front ushers in damaging winds, near-record cold and snow.

Temperatures that climbed into the 60s on Thursday will plummet overnight Friday as the front slides south out of Canada. That will bring strong gusty east-northeast winds and much colder temperatures to the region, the National Weather Service stated in its daily forecast discussion Thursday.

Several inches of snow are expected along the Continental Divide. Total snow accumulations of 6 to 9 inches is possible for Marias Pass, and 2 to 5 inches for the lower elevations in the West Glacier region.

The Flathead Valley is also expected to see minor accumulations of less than an inch.

“Although snow amounts are not expected to be as high as areas along the Divide, it will be quite the shock to the system after the warm temperatures,” the Weather Service stated.

Strong winds will be a concern for areas on the east side of Flathead Lake, in particular Montana 35 where gusts up to 50 mph are expected.

“Due to the saturated soils and the gusty winds, it is a real possibility for large trees to come down, creating power outages,” the Weather Service warned. “At this time, the best timing for the winds will be soon after sunrise Saturday and continuing into the afternoon hours.”

Very cold temperatures will follow the wind and snow. Some valley locations in western Montana could see record lows for Sunday and Monday mornings as temperatures dip into the teens.

The below normal temperatures will hang around through much of next week, with periodic rain and snow showers remaining in the forecast.