Name: Heavy Snow in Montana, December 16 to 17, 2000
Start: 2000-12-16T14:00
End: 2000-12-17T14:00
Location: Montana

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS MSO wrote it up.

DOT reported 6 inches new snow from Kalispell to Stryker and at Happy's Inn. In the mountains,snowfall totals were: 6 inches at North Fork Jocko, 7 inches at Lookout Ski Resort, Banfield Mountain and Saddle Mountain, 8 inches at Lolo Pass and Stahl Peak, 9 inches North Fork Elk Creek, 10 inches at Lookout Pass, Hoodoo Basin, Skalkaho Summit and Twelvemile Creek, and 12 inches at Poorman Creek and Flattop Mountain.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Flathead/Mission Valleys

When: December 16, 2:00 PM MST to December 17, 11:00 AM MST
Where: Flathead/Mission Valleys forecast zone
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
Coordinates: 47.872, -114.424 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Kootenai/Cabinet Region

When: December 16, 2:00 PM MST to December 17, 11:00 AM MST
Where: Kootenai/Cabinet Region forecast zone
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
Coordinates: 48.171, -114.863 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Kootenai/Cabinet Region

When: December 16, 2:00 PM MST to December 17, 2:00 PM MST
Where: Kootenai/Cabinet Region forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 48.171, -114.863 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, West Glacier Region

When: December 16, 2:00 PM MST to December 17, 2:00 PM MST
Where: West Glacier Region forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 47.971, -114.069 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Bitterroot / Sapphire Mountains

When: December 16, 2:00 PM MST to December 17, 2:00 PM MST
Where: Bitterroot / Sapphire Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 46.508, -113.828 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Lower Clark Fork Region

When: December 16, 2:00 PM MST to December 17, 2:00 PM MST
Where: Lower Clark Fork Region forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 47.286, -114.685 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Blackfoot Region

When: December 16, 2:00 PM MST to December 17, 2:00 PM MST
Where: Blackfoot Region forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 46.986, -113.597 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Montana in 2000 Every state in 2000 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, December 2000

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5159142, 5159143, 5159144, 5159145, 5159146, 5159147, 5159148.