High Wind in Montana, January 2, 2001

Name: High Wind in Montana, January 2, 2001
Start: 2001-01-02T15:11
End: 2001-01-02T15:11
Location: Montana

January 2, 2001 · NWS TFX · 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 Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 2, 3:05 PM MST, 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 2, 3:05 PM MST, 6 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
305 PM MST TUE JAN 2 2001

UPPER RIDGE MOVES INTO CENTRAL MONTANA WEDNESDAY AND IS FLATTENED BY A
SHORT WAVE WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND RIDGE REBUILDS PACIFIC NORTHWEST
THURSDAY. EXPECT SCATTERED SHOWERS NORTHERN ROCKIES WITH SHORT WAVE.
FLOW ALOFT INCREASES TO ABOUT 60 KT AT 700MB WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND
NIGHT. WITH SHORT WAVE MOVING INTO UPPER RIDGE...EXPECT WINDS TO
APPROACH OR EXCEED HIGH WIND WARNING CRITERION NORTHWEST PLAINS. SO WILL
ISSUE A HIGH WIND WATCH FOR THAT PERIOD. EXPECT SOUTHWEST VALLEY
INVERSION TO REMAIN INTO WEDNESDAY...BUT PACIFIC FRONTAL PASSAGE MAY
SCOUR IT WEDNESDAY NIGHT OR THURSDAY WITH WARMER TEMPERATURES THURSDAY.
PATCHY FOG PROBABLY WILL OCCUR IN THE VALLEYS TONIGHT. OARD

EXTENDED DISCUSSION...MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT ON GENERAL TRENDS THROUGH
THE 3 TO 7 DAY PERIOD. PERIOD STARTS OFF WITH WLY TO WNWLY FLOW ALOFT
WITH A SHORTWAVE OR TWO AFFECTING AREA. FLOW LOOKS MOIST SO WILL GO WITH
LIKELY SNOW OVER THE MOUNTAINS. DOWNSLOPE SHOULD DOMINATE OVER THE
PLAINS SO WILL GO DRY WITH THE FOLLOWING EXCEPTION. HAVE DECIDED TO
BREAK OUT THU NIGHT FOR THE FAR ERN AREAS AS 12Z AVN AND 00Z CMC SUGGEST
FAR ERN AREAS MAY LOSE DOWNSLOPE THU NIGHT. WILL MENTION A SLIGHT CHANCE
OF PRECIPITATION. UPPER RIDGE SHOULD BE OVER THE AREA SAT WITH THE ECMWF
A LITTLE SLOWER WITH THIS FEATURE. WILL GO WITH DRY CONDITIONS OVER THE
ENTIRE AREA. THEREAFTER SW FLOW ALOFT IS FORECAST. LATEST AVN SUGGESTS
IT MAY BE AWHILE BEFORE PACIFIC MOISTURE REACHES AREA. WILL INTRODUCE A
CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION TO JUST SW MT ON MON AND TO A MORE WIDESPREAD
AREA ON TUE. TEMPERATURES SHOULD CONTINUE MILD OVER THE WEEKEND INTO
MON. APPROACH OF AN UPPER TROUGH AND POSSIBLE COLD FRONT PASSAGE COULD
BRING COOLER TEMPERATURES TUE. BLANK

CCF NUMBERS
GTF NN 034/055 036/045 030 160000
CTB NN 035/052 032/042 026 160000
HLN BN 010/032 017/040 017 160011
BZN BB 002/028 010/036 010 160011
WEY BB 910/022 000/025 905 160011
DLN BB 012/035 018/037 012 160010
HVR NN 028/052 030/042 025 160000
LWT NN 027/052 032/042k 026 160000

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Cascade

When: January 2, 3:11 PM MST
Where: Cascade forecast zone
Measured: 58 kt (67 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Cascade 5 SW.

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

Every storm in Montana in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, January 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: 5228854.