2 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 15, 9:00 PM MST, 1 hour 55 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
900 PM MST SAT DEC 15 2001
...UPDATES PLANNED FOR ZONES AND STATE...
.SHORT TERM...CLOUDINESS IS SLOWER TO MOVE EAST OVER THE AREA THAN
WHAT CURRENT FORECAST HAS AND WINDS ARE ALSO LIGHTER THAN CURRENT
FORECAST. IN LINE WITH THESE TWO FACTORS CURRENT TEMPERATURES ARE AT
OR BELOW FORECASTED LOWS AT MOST LOCATIONS SO WILL BE LOWERING
FORECAST LOWS BY QUITE A BIT IN THE E AND ALSO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO
THE CLOUD AND WIND FORECASTS. LATEST MODELS STILL FORECAST SURFACE
PRESSURE GRADIENTS TO INCREASE A LOT OVERNIGHT AND SURFACE CHARTS
SHOW PRESSURE FALLS THAT WERE OVER B.C. ARE SPREADING INTO ALTA SO
MODELS APPEAR TO BE ON TRACK IN THIS REGARD. LATEST MESO HAS 700 MB
WINDS ABOUT 5 KNOTS LESS THAN ITS PREVIOUS RUN BUT WARNING STILL
LOOKS GOOD. WILL BEEF UP POPS FOR THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS OF THE ROCKY
MOUNTAIN FRONT. LATEST MESO HAS QPF AMOUNTS NEAR .75 INCH FOR THE
PERIOD 00Z SUN TO 00Z MON NEAR THE CONTDVD. STILL APPEARS TO BE SOME
POTENTIAL FOR HIGH WINDS ALONG THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT SUN NIGHT
AND MAYBE INTO EARLY MON. WILL NOT ISSUE A WATCH BUT MIDNIGHT SHIFT
WILL WANT TO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK. BLANK
.EXTENDED...LATEST AVN FORECAST FOR 120 HRS IS QUITE A BIT DIFFERENT
THAN LAST NIGHTS MRF AT 132 HRS WITH AN UPPER TROUGH UPSTREAM OF
MT. LAST NIGHTS MRF WAS QUITE A BIT DEEPER AND FASTER WITH THE TROUGH
IN COMPARISON TO THE LATEST AVN. ALSO LATEST AVN INDICATED MORE SPLIT
WITH THE UPPER TROUGH WHICH WAS MORE IN LINE WITH THE ECMWF/UKMET
SOLUTIONS. SO EXPECT AN UPPER LOW TO DEVELOP OVER THE SW U.S. PER
ECMWF AND LATEST AVN EXTENSION. NOT SURE IF SW FLOW AHEAD OF THE
UPPER LOW WILL BRING MOISTURE INTO SW MT. WILL PROBABLY GO WITH A
CHANCE OF SNOW OVER THE FAR SRN MOUNTAINS WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE IN THE
FAR SRN VALLEYS. EXPECT NRN PORTION OF THE SPLITTING TROUGH TO HAVE
MOVED THROUGH THE AREA BY EARLY FRI SO WILL GO DRY FOR FRI AND SAT.
BLANK
.CCF NUMBERS
GTF NN 022/052 038/051 025 19000
BEBBE 034/023 035/018 035/016 035/020 035 01111111111
CTB NN 020/048 033/046 020 19000
BEBBE 032/019 030/014 030/012 032/018 033 01111111111
HLN BN 022/047 028/046 022 19000
EEBBB 035/018 034/016 030/016 030/016 032 12111122111
BZN BE 006/040 020/042 018 19011
EEEBB 033/014 032/012 028/014 028/008 028 12111122111
WEY BE 908/025 012/027 008 19022
EEEEB 024/004 023/006 020/006 020/000 020 24222233111
DLN BE 010/037 024/038 019 19011
EEEBB 033/015 030/013 027/012 027/010 028 12111122111
HVR NN 010/049 029/047 020 19000
BBBBB 035/015 032/013 030/010 034/010 034 01111111111
LWT NN 012/049 030/045 022 19000
BBBBB 033/022 035/017 032/013 034/016 034 02111111111=
.TFX...HIGH WIND WARNING LATE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY FOR ZONES
9/10/44/46/48/49. HIGH WIND WATCH FOR SUNDAY FOR ZONES 12/13/45.2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Reported by Browning HANDAR automated observation site (along the border between zones 9 (Northern Rocky Mountain Front) and 10 (Eastern Glacier County))...Gusts of greater than 50 kt occurred at this site through 0755 MST on 12/16/2001.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, December 2001
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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5275355, 5275356.