Heavy Snow in Montana, April 1, 2002

Name: Heavy Snow in Montana, April 1, 2002
Start: 2002-04-01T20:00
End: 2002-04-01T20:00
Location: Montana

April 1, 2002 · NWS BYZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 heavy snow, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

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 Apr 1, 1:57 PM MST, 6 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 1, 1:57 PM MST, 6 hours 3 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
157 PM MST MON APR 1 2002

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR TUE...WED...THU...
PLAN TO CONTINUE THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES PRESENTLY IN EFFECT INTO
TONIGHT.

AVN AND ETA HAD SIMILAR ALIGNMENT WHEN COMPARING THE MODELS WITH THE
18Z WATER VAPOR IMAGERY. AVN MAY HAVE DONE BETTER WITH RELATIVE
HUMIDITY ALIGNMENT...BUT ETA HAD A SLIGHT EDGE WITH THE ENERGY
FEATURES.

SNOW SHOULD AFFECT THE COUNTY WARNING AREA MORE OR LESS CONTINUOUSLY
THROUGH MIDNIGHT BEFORE DIMINISHING GRADUALLY TO SHOWERS. BLOWING SNOW
COULD BE A PROBLEM IN A FEW INSTANCES. BUT AT THIS JUNCTURE...LOOKS
LIKE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES...WHERE IN PLACE AT THE MOMENT...SHOULD
HOLD. OVER MOST PLACES...SNOW HAS NOT ACCUMULATED ON ROADWAYS BUT OVER
GRASSY AREAS. ACCUMULATION HAS A BETTER CHANCE TONIGHT...BUT AT THE
SAME TIME...DYNAMICS WILL BE WINDING DOWN. A FAIRLY TRANQUIL WEATHER
PATTERN SETS UP INTO THURSDAY.

A SWATH OF MOISTURE MOVES THROUGH THE AREA THURSDAY...BUT NO REAL
ENERGY IS ASSOCIATED WITH IT. THUS...AFTER TOMORROW...CONDITIONS SHOULD
BE DRY.

TEMPERATURES AGAIN A DIFFICULT PROPOSITION. SNOW COVER AND CLOUD
AMOUNTS WILL BE MAJOR FACTORS HERE. CHB

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR FRI...SAT...SUN...MON...

FRI & SAT...12Z AVN RUN CURRENTLY SHOWING A WEAK RIDGE AND SW FLOW ALOFT
AHEAD OF TROUGH MOVING THROUGH NORTHERN CA. THIS TROUGH MOVES NE TOWARD
THE AREA BRINGING WITH IT A DECENT AREA OF VORTICITY LATE IN THE
AFTERNOON FRI AND ACROSS THE AREA FRI NIGHT. A COUPLE AREAS OF LOW
PRESSURE DEVELOP FROM SOUTH CENTRAL WY NORTHWARD TO SOUTHERN MT. QPF
AMOUNTS LOOK IMPRESSIVE ACROSS THE NW CORNER OF OUR FORECAST AREA AND
POINTS NORTHWARD. AVN HAS BEEN CONSISTENT THE PAST COUPLE OF DAYS.
OVERALL ENSEMBLES ARE SHOWING MORE OF A ZONAL FLOW FOR SAT SO I AM NOT
INCLINED TO TOTALLY BELIEVE IN THE STRENGTH OF THE WAVE EARLY FRI
INTO SAT. ALTHOUGH I HAVE DECIDED TO INTRODUCE SCT POPS FOR BOTH DAYS.
FRI WILL BE THE WARMEST OF THE TWO DAYS AHEAD OF THE TROUGH WITH TEMPS
ONLY EXPECTED TO BE A FEW DEGREES COOLER ON SAT.
SUN & MON...RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE AND NW FLOW BEGIN TO NUDGE INTO THE
WESTERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA ON SUN WHILE THE TROUGH AND WAVE STILL
HOLD A BIT IN THE EAST. AXIS OF RIDGE WILL BE OVER THE AREA SUNDAY
NIGHT AND BEGIN TO PUSH EAST ON MON. AS IT DOES...FLOW ALOFT WILL BECOME
SW AHEAD OF ANOTHER DIGGING TROUGH OFF THE PAC NW COAST. TEMPS SUN
WILL BE A FEW DEGREES WARMER THAN SAT AND SLIGHTLY WARMER FOR MON...BUT
WILL KEEP THEM TRENDED TOWARD CLIMO AND A BIT COOLER THAN GUIDANCE.
HOOLEY

    TUE     WED     THU     FRI     SAT     SUN     MON
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 013/024 012/035 023/052 031/058 033/054 034/057 033/056
    +3/J    00/B    00/E    02/E    22/E    20/E    00/B
LVM 009/030 009/041 022/050 030/056 031/055 033/055 030/055
    +3/J    00/B    00/E    02/E    22/E    20/E    00/B
HDN 011/027 009/037 021/054 029/059 031/055 033/058 031/056
    +3/J    00/B    00/E    02/E    22/E    20/E    00/B
MLS 013/023 011/035 019/050 027/057 030/054 032/056 031/055
    82/J    00/B    00/B    02/E    22/E    20/E    00/B
4BQ 012/024 010/036 020/051 028/056 031/055 033/055 029/056
    +3/J    00/B    00/B    02/E    22/E    20/E    00/B
BHK 011/022 009/033 016/048 024/053 028/053 029/053 030/054
    82/J    00/B    00/B    02/E    22/E    20/E    00/B
SHR 016/024 011/036 023/050 029/059 032/054 032/058 032/056
    +3/J    00/E    00/E    02/E    22/E    20/E    00/B

.BYZ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA...
       AND SHERIDAN FOOTHILLS TONIGHT.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Western Carbon

When: April 1, 8:00 PM MST
Where: Western Carbon forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.227, -109.028 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

8 inches of new snow in Joliet

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Montana in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, April 2002

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: 5284716.