Alert archive / Montana / Blizzard Warnings in 2009

Blizzard Warning 3, NWS Billings, MT

March 29, 20096 counties in Montana

NWS Billings, MT issued this blizzard warning at Mar 29, 2009, 3:48 AM MDT for 6 counties in Montana. It took effect at Mar 29, 2009, 12:00 PM MDT. It was in force for 30 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 29, 2009, 3:48 AM MDT (09:48 UTC)
In effect from
Mar 29, 2009, 12:00 PM MDT
Expired
Mar 30, 2009, 6:00 PM MDT
In force
30 hr
Issued by
NWS Billings, MT

Counties Big Horn County, MT, Carter County, MT, Custer County, MT, Fallon County, MT, Powder River County, MT, Rosebud County, MT

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 223 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:47 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Riverton, WY (KRIW), launched 00:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 376 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Riverton, WY at 00:00Z on 2009-03-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Riverton, WY at 00:00Z on 2009-03-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -13 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2126 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
65 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
204 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this blizzard warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before this blizzard warning went out at Mar 29, 2:57 AM MDT, 51 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 29, 2:57 AM MDT, 51 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 29, 2:30 AM MDT, 1 hour 18 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
230 AM MDT SUN MAR 29 2009

MTZ028>042-056>058-063>068-WYZ098-099-300830-
SOUTHERN WHEATLAND-MUSSELSHELL-TREASURE-NORTHERN ROSEBUD-CUSTER-
FALLON-NORTHERN STILLWATER-YELLOWSTONE-POWDER RIVER-CARTER-
SOUTHERN BIG HORN-EASTERN CARBON-NORTHERN PARK-
NORTHERN SWEET GRASS-GOLDEN VALLEY-RED LODGE FOOTHILLS-
NORTHERN BIG HORN-SOUTHERN ROSEBUD-JUDITH GAP-PARADISE VALLEY-
LIVINGSTON AREA-BEARTOOTH FOOTHILLS-ABSAROKA/BEARTOOTH MOUNTAINS-
CRAZY MOUNTAINS-NORTHEAST BIG HORN MOUNTAINS-SHERIDAN FOOTHILLS-
230 AM MDT SUN MAR 29 2009

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL
MONTANA...SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA...SOUTHEAST MONTANA AND NORTH
CENTRAL WYOMING.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A MAJOR WINTER STORM WILL IMPACT THE REGION TODAY. SNOW WILL
DEVELOP OVER THE WESTERN AREAS THIS MORNING AND SPREAD EAST
THROUGHOUT THE DAY. SNOW WILL BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES IN THE WEST
WITH SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED. STRONG WINDS
ACCOMPANYING THIS WINTER STORM SYSTEM MAY CAUSE WHITEOUT
CONDITIONS IN NORTHERN WYOMING AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA THIS
AFTERNOON AND OVERNIGHT. RANCHERS SHOULD TAKE PRECAUTIONS TO
PROTECT LIVESTOCK. TRAVEL CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE THROUGH THE
DAY AS HEAVY SNOW AND AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY
HAZARDOUS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

TREACHEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA AS A
RESULT OF A POWERFUL WINTER STORM.

THE STORM WILL BRING SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATING SNOW TO THE ENTIRE
REGION WITH THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL ACROSS SOUTHEAST MONTANA.
FORECAST SNOW AMOUNTS BY MONDAY MORNING ARE 8 TO 12 INCHES FROM
BILLINGS WEST TO LIVINGSTON...AND APPROACHING 2 FEET OVER THE
HIGHER NORTH FACING SLOPES OF THE BEARTOOTH AND ABSAROKA
MOUNTAINS. TOTAL NEW SNOW IN SOUTHEAST MONTANA OF 12 TO 18 INCHES
IS POSSIBLE BY MONDAY MORNING. STRONG WINDS ACCOMPANYING THIS
WINTER STORM SYSTEM WILL CAUSE WHITEOUT CONDITIONS IN NORTHERN
WYOMING AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA MONDAY. RANCHERS SHOULD TAKE
PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT LIVESTOCK.

THE UNSETTLED WEATHER PATTERN IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE
MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK AS ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM IS POSSIBLE LATE
TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. AREA RESIDENTS AND TRAVELERS ARE URGED TO
KEEP UP ON THE LATEST WEATHER FORECASTS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

Nearby

Blizzard Warnings in Montana, 2009Blizzard Warnings in Wyoming, 2009Every blizzard warning in 2009

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.