High winds occurred after a cold front moved through northeast Montana late on October 31st, 2001. The high winds continued into the early morning hours of November 1, 2001.
Every event with a place to put it; 10 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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 episode as NWS GGW wrote it up.
High winds occurred after a cold front moved through northeast Montana late on October 31st, 2001. The high winds continued into the early morning hours of November 1, 2001. Sustained winds between 35 and 45 mph were common for several hours after the passage of the front. The peak wind was 72 mph at Whitewater.
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 Glasgow, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 31, 9:35 PM MST, 2 hours 25 minutes earlier.
NORTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT
935 PM MST WED OCT 31 2001
.SHORT TERM...VIGOROUS SHORTWAVE TROUGH TRACKING ALONG THE CANADIAN
BORDER THIS EVENING. MAIN FORECAST PROBLEM WILL BE WINDS OVERNIGHT.
ETA FORECASTS 850 MB WINDS TO INCREASE TO 45 KTS BY 06Z AND 55 KTS
BY 12Z. THE 45 KTS HAS ALREADY VERIFIED ON THE KGGW VAD WIND PROFILE
SO THE FORECAST LOOKS ON TRACK. GOOD SUBSIDENCE EVIDENT ON WATER
VAPOR IMAGERY ABOUT TO MOVE INTO NORTHEAST MONTANA. MAIN CONCERN IS
THE STRONGEST WINDS ALOFT MOVE THROUGH AT THE HARDEST TIME TO MIX
THEM DOWN. HOWEVER...UPSTREAM OBS INDICATE A GUST TO 50 KTS AT CWOE
ALBERTA AND 40 MPH SUSTAINED AT CWVN SASKATCHEWAN WITH AN AREA OF
RAIN SHOWERS THAT IS CURRENTLY MOVING INTO NORTHEAST MONTANA. AS A
RESULT...WILL GO AHEAD AND ISSUE A HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE CWA
UNTIL 18Z THURSDAY. WATERHOUSE
.LONG TERM...AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BEGIN TO BUILD INTO NORTHEAST
MONTANA ON THE WEEKEND BRINGING ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND DRY
CONDITIONS. TEMPERATURES WILL COOL OFF AT THE BEGINNING OF NEXT
WEEK AS MORE ZONAL FLOW RETURNS. THE MODELS DO NOT BRING IN A TROUGH
UNTIL WEDNESDAY.
KGGW 034/050 031/055 030/057 032/057 033/050 030/050 026/045
NBBBBBE 881000/8800002
KGDV 033/050 030/056 030/056 031/060 032/055 029/052 027/047
NBBBBBE 880000/8800002
.GGW...HIGH WIND WARNING ALL ZONES UNTIL 18Z THURSDAY.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
10 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
40 mph sustained wind reported at Scobey.
42 mph sustained wind at Signal Hill.
45 mph sustained wind at Medicine Lake.
63 mph gusts at Poplar RAWS.
42 mph sustained wind at York Island.
40 mph sustained wind at Bloomfield.
60 mph gust at Port of Morgan.
40 mph sustained wind at Port of Opheim.
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, November 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: 5272708, 5272712, 5272709, 5272707, 5272716, 5272710, 5272711, 5272713, 5272714, 5272715.