8 winter storm, 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 Apr 17, 8:30 AM MST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
930 AM MDT WED APR 17 2002
...RADAR SHOULD BE UP LATER TODAY...
...UPDATED ZONES AND NEW HIGHLIGHTS NEAR 10 AM...
.TODAY...COMMA HEAD STORM HEADING TOWARDS CENTRAL MONTANA ON
SATELLITE. MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW REPORTED THIS MORNING ACROSS
BEAVERHEAD COUNTY AND SOUTHERN GALLATIN. AT 9 AM THIS MORNING...
THE SNOW WAS JUST MOVING INTO FAR SOUTHERN JEFFERSON...AND BROADWATER
COUNTIES. THIS STORM MAY PRODUCE CONVECTIVE SNOW BY AFTERNOON AS LIS
NEAR 0 AND CAPE NEAR 100J/KG...WOULD PRODUCE ONE TO TWO INCHES OF
SNOW COULD FALL PER HOUR. THE BIGGEST CONCERN IS WHETHER TO MAKE THE
WINTER STORM WARNING FOR ALL AREAS CURRENTLY AFFECTED...AND NOT LIMIT
IT TO THE MOUNTAINS. WITH 4 INCHES OF NEW SNOW AT ENNIS ALREADY...
WE WILL UPGRADE TO A WINTER STORM WARNING ALL AREAS OF SOUTHWEST
MONTANA...EXCEPT HELENA. FURTHER NORTH...CURRENT HIGHLIGHTS LOOK OK
FOR NOW...BUT WE WILL REEVALUATE THROUGHOUT THE EARLY AFTERNOON.
OTHERWISE...NORTH WINDS CONTINUE TO PUSH SOUTH OUT OF CANADA. THIS
WILL ALLOW UPSLOPE SNOWS TO DEVELOP BETWEEN GREAT FALLS AND
LEWISTOWN BY EVENING...ESPECIALLY OVER THE MOUNTAINS. CHANGES TO
TEMPERATURES WILL BE TO LOWER IN SEVERAL LOCATION...AND RAISE POPS
IN AREAS IN MOST AREAS. BRUSDA
.EXTENDED...MRF AND ECMWF STILL CONTINUE THEIR DIFFERENCES ON THEIR
HANDLING OF AN UPPER LOW THAT WILL BE OVER THE GREAT BASIN EARLY
FRIDAY. ECMWF HAS BEEN CONSISTENT IN TAKING THE UPPER LOW INTO
CENTRAL MT THIS WEEKEND. MRF HAS BEEN FARTHER S/SE AND IS
WEAKER WITH THE UPPER LOW. MODELS INCLUDING CMC AND UKMET ARE IN
AGREEMENT ON SHORTWAVE ACTIVITY FOR EARLY NEXT WEEK BUT DIFFER
SOME ON TIMING AND STRENGTH. CURRENT FORECAST OF DRY FOR SATURDAY
LOOKS OK BASED ON THE DRY NLY FLOW OF THE MRF/AVN. SCATTERED
SHOWER FORECAST FOR SUN THROUGH TUE LOOKS GOOD ALSO BASED ON MODELS
TRENDS. FORECAST HIGHS FOR MON AND TUE MAY BE TOO WARM BASED ON
LATEST MRF 1000/500 MB THICKNESSES BUT AM RELUCTANT TO LOWER THEM
FOR THAT FAR OUT. BLANK
.CCF NUMBERS
GTF WE 044/025 038/022 041 04793
EBWWW 023/052 028/052 030/051 030/051 030 12112333333
CTB EE 044/021 037/018 042 04342
EBWWW 020/048 025/050 028/049 028/047 028 22112333333
HLN WC 046/028 041/024 042 04994
EBWWW 024/052 028/052 028/052 028/050 028 22112333333
BZN WS 035/026 040/022 042 04787
EBWWW 022/050 026/052 028/052 028/050 028 32112333333
WEY JS 030/020 030/010 032 04787
EBWWW 012/042 020/042 022/042 020/042 020 32112333355
DLN WS 034/026 040/022 042 04886
EBWWW 022/050 026/052 028/052 028/050 028 32112333333
HVR EE 047/027 040/020 046 04252
EBJJJ 020/054 028/055 032/055 032/052 032 11112333333
LWT EJ 048/028 035/020 040 04595
EBJJJ 023/052 028/050 030/051 029/050 029 22112333333=
.TFX...
...WINTER STORM WARNING TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR ALL ELEVATIONS TODAY
AND TONIGHT ALL OF SOUTHWEST MONTANA EXCEPT HELENA...
...WINTER STORM WARNING BEGINNING THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT
ABOVE 6000 FEET AND SNOW ADVISORY BELOW 6000 FEET FOR TONIGHT...FOR
CASCADE...FERGUS...JUDITH BASIN...AND SOUTHER LEWIS AND CLARK...8 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
An area of heavy snow moved through Southwest and Central Montana on the 17th and 18th. The snow was heaviest over the mountains during this event.Some total snow accumulations from this event include: 10 to 14 inches in Neihart and on the top of Kings Hill; 13 inches at Clancy, 8 to 10 inches at Winston, and 6 to 8 inches at Dillon, Pony, and Marysville.
An area of heavy snow moved through Southwest and Central Montana on the 17th and 18th. The snow was heaviest over the mountains during this event.Some total snow accumulations from this event include: 10 to 14 inches in Neihart and on the top of Kings Hill; 13 inches at Clancy, 8 to 10 inches at Winston, and 6 to 8 inches at Dillon, Pony, and Marysville.
An area of heavy snow moved through Southwest and Central Montana on the 17th and 18th. The snow was heaviest over the mountains during this event.Some total snow accumulations from this event include: 10 to 14 inches in Neihart and on the top of Kings Hill; 13 inches at Clancy, 8 to 10 inches at Winston, and 6 to 8 inches at Dillon, Pony, and Marysville.
An area of heavy snow moved through Southwest and Central Montana on the 17th and 18th. The snow was heaviest over the mountains during this event.Some total snow accumulations from this event include: 10 to 14 inches in Neihart and on the top of Kings Hill; 13 inches at Clancy, 8 to 10 inches at Winston, and 6 to 8 inches at Dillon, Pony, and Marysville.
An area of heavy snow moved through Southwest and Central Montana on the 17th and 18th. The snow was heaviest over the mountains during this event.Some total snow accumulations from this event include: 10 to 14 inches in Neihart and on the top of Kings Hill; 13 inches at Clancy, 8 to 10 inches at Winston, and 6 to 8 inches at Dillon, Pony, and Marysville.
An area of heavy snow moved through Southwest and Central Montana on the 17th and 18th. The snow was heaviest over the mountains during this event.Some total snow accumulations from this event include: 10 to 14 inches in Neihart and on the top of Kings Hill; 13 inches at Clancy, 8 to 10 inches at Winston, and 6 to 8 inches at Dillon, Pony, and Marysville.
An area of heavy snow moved through Southwest and Central Montana on the 17th and 18th. The snow was heaviest over the mountains during this event.Some total snow accumulations from this event include: 10 to 14 inches in Neihart and on the top of Kings Hill; 13 inches at Clancy, 8 to 10 inches at Winston, and 6 to 8 inches at Dillon, Pony, and Marysville.
An area of heavy snow moved through Southwest and Central Montana on the 17th and 18th. The snow was heaviest over the mountains during this event.Some total snow accumulations from this event include: 10 to 14 inches in Neihart and on the top of Kings Hill; 13 inches at Clancy, 8 to 10 inches at Winston, and 6 to 8 inches at Dillon, Pony, and Marysville.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, April 2002
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: 5290524, 5290525, 5290526, 5290606, 5290607, 5290608, 5290609, 5290610.