18-Inch Snowfall Hits Montana, Dakotas

A storm moving out of the Rockies struck the Plains states Friday, bringing about a foot and a half of snow to parts of Montana and the Dakotas.

A separate storm spread rain and snow across the Pacific Northwest, with 15 inches of snow falling above Oakridge, Ore., in the mountains east of Eugene.

“I think winter’s here,” police Officer Steve Ferneu said in Crawford, Neb., where three inches of snow fell Friday.

Trip Postponements Urged

Hunters were advised to postpone trips in North Dakota, where forecasters said snow accumulations could reach 15 inches and where winds of up to 40 m.p.h. were expected to produce wind chills of 20 to 40 below zero today.

In northwestern Minnesota, where wind chills of 30 below were forecast, the weather service advised hunters and other travelers to carry winter survival gear this weekend.

The storm began Thursday in the Colorado Rockies and spread snow northward into Wyoming and Montana and eastward into Nebraska and the Dakotas. As much as 16 inches fell in Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park, while a foot of snow blanketed Moskee, Wyo., the National Weather Service said.

In South Dakota, 17 inches of snow fell in Deerfield, and a foot of snow was on the ground in the towns of Hill City, Lead, Deadwood, Spearfish and Sturgis.

Snow also fell to the west, with Alta, Utah, reporting 18 inches on the ground, and Tooele, Utah, receiving 16 inches over two days.

Four Inches Fall in Butte

In Montana, 18 inches of snow was reported at Red Lodge, but only four inches fell in Butte and Billings.

One person was killed in a weather-related automobile accident Friday near Billings, the Highway Patrol said.

The storm forced authorities to temporarily close Interstate 90 between Moorcroft and Sundance, Wyo., because of poor conditions.

In the Black Hills, a youth who was deer hunting with his father was lost for six hours before he walked into a Wyoming rancher’s home late Thursday, Weston County Undersheriff Steve Nunez said. Nathan Ramker, 15, of Eau Claire, Wis., was not hurt, the officer said.

A mixture of rain, sleet and snow fell in northern Minnesota, where a winter storm watch was posted. Six more inches of snow was expected.

“It’s snowing quite hard now at the north end of the Red River Valley,” said Bill Togstad, a weather service meteorologist in Minneapolis.

Hazardous road conditions also prompted the weather service to post travelers’ advisories over portions of central Wyoming, eastern Montana, the northern and central mountains of Colorado, the New Mexico mountains and the Nebraska panhandle.