Alert archive / Montana / Winter Storm Warnings in 2026

Winter Storm Warning 1, NWS Missoula, MT

January 5, 2026Mineral County, Missoula County, Sanders County, Montana; Clearwater County, Idaho

NWS Missoula, MT issued this winter storm warning at Jan 5, 2026, 1:03 PM MST for Mineral County, Missoula County, Sanders County, Montana; Clearwater County, Idaho. It took effect at Jan 6, 2026, 12:00 PM MST. It was in force for 23 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
Jan 5, 2026, 1:03 PM MST (20:03 UTC)
In effect from
Jan 6, 2026, 12:00 PM MST
Expired
Jan 7, 2026, 11:00 AM MST
In force
23 hr
Issued by
NWS Missoula, MT

Counties Clearwater County, ID, Mineral County, MT, Missoula County, MT, Sanders County, MT

The radar

The Missoula radar (KMSX), 72 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:02 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

Boise Airport, ID (KBOI), launched 12:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 408 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, Boise Airport, ID at 12:00Z on 2026-01-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 35 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Boise Airport, ID at 12:00Z on 2026-01-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 57 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
35 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1059 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
88 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The office that day

Everything else NWS Missoula, MT issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 5, 11:10 AM MSTSpecial Weather StatementMSOMissoula35 min
Jan 5, 11:50 AM MSTSpecial Weather StatementMSOPowell40 min
Jan 5, 1:03 PM MSTWinter Weather AdvisoryMSODeer Lodge, Granite, Missoula, Powell, Ravalli, Silver Bow19 hr
Jan 5, 1:03 PM MSTWinter Weather AdvisoryMSODeer Lodge, Flathead, Granite, Lake, Lincoln, Missoula and 4 more46 hr

Nearby

Winter Storm Warnings in Montana, 2026Winter Storm Warnings in Idaho, 2026Every winter storm warning in 2026

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.