Montana, 2001

High Wind in Montana, December 16, 2001

December 16, 2001 · NWS BYZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 forecasters said that day

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 Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 16, 3:15 AM MST, 4 hours 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 16, 3:15 AM MST, 4 hours 29 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
315 AM MST SUN DEC 16 2001

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR TDY...MON...TUE...
A 20+ DEGREE TEMPERATURE GRADIENT FROM NORTHERN WY INTO SOUTH CENTRAL
MT HAS RESULTED FAVORABLE GAP FLOW CONDITIONS.  WIND GUSTS OVER 60MPH
WERE COMMON AT LVM AND APPROACHING 60MPH AT SOUTH BRIDER RAWS THIS
MORNING.  THE HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE UPPER YELLOWSTONE RIVER VALLEY
CERTAINLY IS ON TRACK.  CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN UNCHANGED THROUGH
TONIGHT...SO MAY NEED TO EXTEND THE WARNING BEYOND THIS AFTERNOON.
VISIBLE IMAGERY FROM YESTERDAY SHOWS MUCH OF CARBON COUNTY WAS SNOW
COVERED.  SINCE WINDS WILL BE IN EXCESS OF 30 MPH...WILL MENTION
LOCALIZED BLOWING SNOW IN THE ZONES.  SPARSE SNOW COVER WEST OF BILLINGS
TO LIVINGSTON WILL PREVENT BLOWING SNOW DESPITE STRONGER WINDS. A WEAK
SHORT WAVE WILL TRECK ACROSS THE CWA TODAY AND JUST BRING HIGH CLOUDS.
FEEL CURRENT PACKAGE HAS THIS COVERED.  WILL UPDATE ZONES TO MAKE MINOR
ADJUSTMENTS TO WINDS AND MENTION BLOWING SNOW IN CARBON COUNTY.  MOORE

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR WED...THU...FRI...SAT...
SHORTWAVE RIDGE PROGGED TO BUILD INTO AREA WEDNESDAY AS ANOTHER UPPER
TROUGH MOVES INTO PACIFIC NORTHWEST. SURFACE LOW WITH THIS SYSTEM
MOVES INTO SOUTHERN ALBERTA BY 12Z THURSDAY. THIS SHOULD ALLOW WARMER
AIR TO GET INTO AREA WEDNESDAY. THIS IS COVERED VERY WELL IN CURRENT
EXTENDED. UPPER TROUGH SLIDES TO THE EAST INTO AREA BY THURSDAY
EVENING. THIS ALLOWS A COOL FRONT TO SLIDE INTO AREA THURSDAY. AVN IS
PRETTY DRY WITH THE SYSTEM EXCEPT FOR SOUTHERN ZONES. WONT TOUCH AT
THIS TIME AS MODELS HAVE PRETTY INCONSISTENT WITH THIS TROUGH...TRENDING
WEAKER AND FASTER THIS RUN. RASCH

    TDY MON     TUE     WED     THU     FRI     SAT
-------------------------------------------------------
BIL 043 030/049 024/034 023/039 021/035 018/030 018/033
    0/N 02/W    32/J    22/E    22/E    33/J    22/B
LVM 045 028/048 023/033 017/035 017/030 014/027 015/028
    0/N 02/W    32/J    22/E    22/E    33/J    22/B
HDN 044 028/051 023/035 020/040 018/035 015/031 016/034
    0/N 02/W    32/J    22/E    22/E    33/J    22/B
MLS 043 029/049 022/035 016/039 016/036 016/030 013/028
    0/B 00/E    32/J    20/E    02/E    33/J    22/B
4BQ 042 029/047 022/034 016/038 018/035 017/030 015/029
    0/B 00/E    32/J    20/E    02/E    33/J    22/B
BHK 043 030/046 020/034 016/038 015/035 015/030 013/027
    0/B 00/E    32/J    20/E    02/E    33/J    22/B
SHR 041 021/048 020/034 018/036 018/035 015/030 015/030
    0/B 02/E    32/J    20/E    02/E    33/J    22/B

.BYZ...HIGH WIND WARNING TODAY UPPER YELLOWSTONE RIVER VALLEY.

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Wheatland/Park/Sweet Grass

When
December 16, 7:44 AM MST
Where
Wheatland/Park/Sweet Grass forecast zone
Measured
54 kt (62 mph)
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

54 mph sustained winds in Livingston

What these are

High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Montana in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, December 2001

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5274302.