Montana Gas Prices Soar A Quarter a Gallon in Days

Montana drivers aren't being spared the dramatic surge in prices following the start of the war in Iran and the Middle East, jumping nearly a quarter a gallon in the past week.

AAA's latest price tracker shows Montana's average hitting $3.04 for a gallon of regular gas by Friday afternoon. A week ago, that number was $2.79 a gallon on average.

     ⛽️ Prices jumped about 5 cents a gallon from Thursday to Friday alone.

A month ago, AAA's price tracker showed $2.74 per gallon, and the new average has nearly erased the year's declines. At the beginning of March last year, it was costing $2.74 a gallon.

Montana Metro Prices

Missoula's average jumped from $2.78 a week ago to $3.08 average. Billings drivers are also at $3.08, up from $2.82 last week. Great Falls was slightly cheaper at $3.06 a gallon, up from $2.74 a week ago.

GasBuddy.com users were reporting somewhat better "real-world" findings. The Safeway in Bozeman still had a low price of $2.65, $2.69 at the Bozeman Costco, and $2.57 at the Costco in Kalispell.

Those are all significantly higher than Gasbuddy's latest report last Sunday. We'll be watching for those new numbers on Monday.

Batten down the hatches

Montana can't seem to go a week without wind this winter, and that trend is continuing into the spring, with National Weather Service forecasters issuing warnings.

The Great Falls weather office is forecasting winds gusting as high as 77 miles per hour around Cut Bank and the Northern Front, around 60 in Great Falls, and over 50 along the HiLine. Bozeman, Livingston, and Butte have 50-mile-per-hour gusts in the forecasts.

Meteorologist Trent Parker in Missoula says winds could gust up to 70 in the Western Montana passes.

"And looking at some of these valley locations, you could probably tack on an extra 15 miles an hour or so, getting us into the 40 to 50 mile an hour range for absolute peak gusts, and up in the mountains in those passes, you probably tack on an extra 20, getting us up into the 60 to 70 mile an hour range, definitely not out of the question."

Marine who scuffled with Sheehy will face charges

That Marine who disrupted a Congressional hearing before being tackled by Capitol Police, with Senator Tim Sheehy jumping into the fray, will face three counts of assaulting an officer, and an additional 3-counts for resisting arrest, crowding, and obstructing.

44-year old Brian McGinnis is a Green Party candidate who is running for Senate from North Carolina and was protesting the war in Iran.

The incident has sparked partisan reactions on social media here in Montana. Some say Sheehy did the right thing, but others say he shouldn't have interfered with officers and was only trying to get a "viral video clip."

Big prison time for this drug dealer

A Washington man will spend over 16-years in prison after he was caught with drugs and guns during a traffic stop in Polson.

Felipe Michael Garza of Othello was arrested in August of 2024 and convicted after a jury trial in U.S. District Court in Missoula in November. Prosecutors said he'd been caught with 124 grams of pure meth, 38-grams of fentanyl, two loaded guns, scales, and crash and drug ledgers. He was wanted on a $1-million warrant.

     This week, Judge Donald Molloy sentenced Garza to 194-months in prison.

More details on terrible Lincoln County crash

Montana Highway Patrol is now reporting more information on the four people who were killed in that terrible crash on U.S. 2 in Lincoln County earlier this week.

Troopers say the wreck was caused when a 66-year old Kalispell man lost control of his truck and trailer, crossing over the centerline, slamming into an oncoming GMC pickup, killing himself and a Libby couple in their 80s.

     The driver of the pickup, a 70-year old woman from Libby, died later at that hospital.

Fatal shooting investigation continues

Missoula Police are continuing to investigate the shooting of a wanted suspect at a convenience store on Wednesday afternoon.

Police say two adult males have been remanded to the Missoula County Detention Facility on charges stemming from the shooting, which MPD says happened when two bail bondsmen tried to apprehend the suspect at the Town Pump on Reserve. The charges include deliberate homicide and assault with a weapon for one man, and attempted assault with a weapon for the other man.

READ MORE: Bail Bondsmen Facing Charges for Shooting