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 2, 2:15 AM MST, 6 hours 5 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
215 AM MST SUN DEC 2 2001
.SHORT TERM...SURFACE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER SRN ALTA THIS MORNING
IS PROGGED TO MOVE QUICKLY EAST...WITH STRONG ISALLOBARIC RISES IN
ITS WAKE. HIGH WIND WARNING WILL CONTINUE THROUGH NOON FOR ROCKY
MTN FRONT AND ADJACENT ZONES. WINDS WILL DIE OFF QUICKLY THIS
AFTERNOON AS WEAK HIGH PRESSURE SETTLES OVER REGION. SECOND LOW
PRESSURE SYSTEM MAKES LANDFALL OVER OR THIS EVENING...WITH A
SECONDARY LOW DEVELOPING OVER WRN MT BY MIDNIGHT. SYSTEM WILL
COMBINE WITH HIGH PRESSURE OVER ALTA FOR MOIST UPSLOPE FLOW EAST OF
DIVIDE. WILL GO WITH CHANCE POPS OVER PLAINS...AND LIKELY POPS IN SW
ZONES. SYSTEM CONTINUES TO PROGRESS EASTWARD ON MONDAY...COUPLED
WITH UPPER LEVEL TROUGH PASSAGE. SURFACE AND 700 MB FLOW BECOMES NW
OVER PLAINS ZONES. THIS WILL GIVE VERY GOOD UPSLOPE FLOW FOR GTF AREA
AND AM GOING WITH LIKELY POPS IN THIS AREA. ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL
TROUGH APPROACHES THE STATE ON TUESDAY. WILL CONTINUE CHANCE POPS
IN THE SW ZONE VALLEYS...BUT KEEP PLAINS MOSTLY DRY AS SURFACE
PATTERN APPEARS FAVORABLE FOR STRONG DOWNSLOPE FLOW.
.EXTENDED...UPPER LEVEL TROUGHING OVER THE WESTERN CONUS EARLY IN
THE PERIOD PROGRESSES EASTWARD...THEN STRENGTHENS OVER GREAT LAKES
REGION ON SATURDAY. MODELS IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH OVERALL
PATTERN...BUT ECMWF LAGS THE MRF BY ABOUT 12 HOURS. SOME
DIFFERENCES IN SURFACE PATTERN ALSO EMERGES BY THURSDAY. CURRENT
FORECAST PACKAGE IS IN LINE WITH NEWEST MRF RUN...AND WILL NOT MAKE
ANY CHANGES AT THIS TIME. MPJ
.CCF NUMBERS
GTF NJ 042/022 033/017 028 14046
EENEE 012/029 017/038 021/042 029/041 029 10022211111
CTB NJ 039/014 028/010 026 14033
EENEE 010/025 013/035 019/039 019/036 019 10022211111
HLN EJ 041/022 034/014 028 14264
EENEE 010/027 013/036 020/040 022/037 022 12123322222
BZN EJ 039/018 033/011 026 14264
EEEJJ 008/026 011/034 018/038 020/038 020 22123322222
WEY JJ 026/012 024/006 018 14686
JEJJJ 008/020 010/029 014/032 019/031 019 33123333333
DLN EJ 034/020 031/014 024 14465
EEEJJ 008/026 011/034 018/038 020/038 020 22123322222
HVR NJ 046/016 028/010 025 14024
EENEE 006/026 010/035 021/034 029/041 029 10022211111
LWT NJ 042/022 033/014 029 14044
EENEE 012/029 016/037 020/040 028/040 028 10022211111
.TFX...HIGH WIND WARNING THROUGH NOON FOR ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND
ADJACENT ZONES.MTZ008-012>015-048>055-030015- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 515 AM MST SUN DEC 2 2001 ...WINTER WEATHER EXPECTED ACROSS SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL MONTANA TONIGHT AND MONDAY ... A WINTER STORM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE GREAT BASIN TODAY...AND INTO WESTERN MONTANA TONIGHT. SNOW IS LIKELY IN THE SOUTHWESTERN VALLEYS AND OVER THE PLAINS OF CENTRAL MONTANA...WITH 1 TO 3 INCHES OF SNOW POSSIBLE BY MONDAY AFTERNOON. SNOW...LOCALLY HEAVY AT TIMES...WILL FALL OVER THE MOUNTAINS...WITH 3 TO 5 INCHES EXPECTED BY LATE MONDAY. HIGHER ELEVATIONS CAN ALSO EXPECT GUSTY WINDS TONIGHT...WITH AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW REDUCING VISIBILITIES AT TIMES. MPJ
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Reported by spotter at Choteau City Airport (along the border between zones 48 (Southern Rocky Mountain Front) and 49 (Eastern Teton County))...61 kt gust (measured) also occurred at same location at 0930 MST.
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: 5275284, 5275285.