Name: High Wind in Montana, December 16, 2001
Start: 2001-12-16T13:02
End: 2001-12-16T13:02
Location: Montana

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 Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 16, 10:55 AM MST, 2 hours 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 16, 10:55 AM MST, 2 hours 7 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
1055 AM MST SUN DEC 16 2001

.SHORT TERM...UPDATES TO ZONES BY 10 AM...HIGH WIND WARNINGS ARE OUT
FOR TODAY. MAIN QUESTION RIGHT NOW WILL BE WHETHER TO ADD HILL
COUNTY...HVR...FOR TODAY AS WELL AS DETERMINING NEED FOR A WATCH ON
MONDAY. PATTERN IS FAVORABLE TODAY WITH A SHORT WAVE MOVING THRU A
FLAT RIDGE ALOFT AND A TIGHT SURFACE GRADIENT FROM BOI TO YZU. MONDAY
A LITTLE LESS FAVORABLE WITH A BROAD TROF APPOACHING ALOFT AND A
WEAKER GRADIENT AT THE SURFACE.  ONE SHORT WAVES HAS RECENTLY MOVED
THRU THE AREA WITH ANOTHER CROSSING THE ROCKYS AROUND 18Z. WINDS
ALOFT ALONG WITH SURFACE GRADIENT SUPPORT CURRENT WARNING. WILL ADD
MENTION OF BLOWING DUST FOR TODAY AS WELL AS MENTION OF SNOW OVER WRN
MTNS NEAR CONTDVD. CURRENT FORECAST LOOKS GOOD. ZELZER

.EXTENDED...WILL NOT MAKE ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO CURRENT
EXTENDED FORECAST. UPPER RIDGE OVER THE CWA DAY 4. UPPER TROF MOVES
ACROSS THE AREA DAY 5 THOUGH NOT MUCH MOISTURE WITH IT. STRONG
DOWNSLOPE GRADIENTS AGAIN DAY 6. STRONG UPPER RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE
PACIFIC NORTHWEST DAY 7 PLACING CWA UNDER CYCLONIC NORTHWEST FLOW
ALOFT. EMANUEL

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF NN 052/034 050/025 034 08000
   EEEBE 022/038 018/035 016/040 022/035 020 11111111111
CTB NN 046/033 046/021 032 08000
   EEEBE 018/030 014/030 012/037 018/033 018 11111111111
HLN NN 045/027 044/022 036 08111
   EEBBB 018/034 016/030 016/030 016/032 016 22222111122
BZN BE 040/020 042/018 034 08111
   EEEBE 014/032 012/035 014/031 008/028 008 22221111222
WEY BE 025/012 026/007 022 08222
   EEEEE 004/023 006/026 008/022 000/020 000 32222222222
DLN BE 035/024 036/018 032 08112
   EEEBE 015/033 013/036 018/032 010/028 010 22222111122
HVR NN 047/028 046/022 036 08000
   EBBEE 015/035 013/038 018/034 010/035 010 11111111111
LWT NN 048/030 046/022 035 08000
   EBBEE 020/036 017/038 018/034 016/034 016 21111111111

.TFX...HIGH WIND WARNING TODAY FOR THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND
       ADJACENT PLAINS.

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Cascade

When: December 16, 1:02 PM MST
Where: Cascade forecast zone
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Reported by spotter at Cascade 5 S.

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 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5275359.