3 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 23, 2:25 AM MST, 1 hour 35 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
325 AM MDT TUE APR 23 2002
.SHORT TERM...BIGGEST PROBLEMS THIS MORNING WILL BE HOW MUCH
PRECIPITATION FALLS BEHIND THE COLD FRONT AS IT MOVES SOUTH OVER THE
CWA TODAY...WILL IT BE RAIN OR SNOW...AND WHAT WILL BE THE HIGH
TEMPERATURES TODAY. THE MODELS SEEM TO BE MORE IN LINE THIS MORNING
THAN YESTERDAY...BUT NOW BOTH ARE A BIT SLOW WITH THE COLD FRONTAL
PASSAGE. THE COLD FRONT SHOULD MOVE SOUTH THROUGH GTF AND LWT BY
10Z...CAPPING HIGH TEMPERATURES FOR THE DAY. AS THE COLD AIR MOVES
SOUTH...TEMPERATURES SHOULD HOLD STEADY IN THE 30S ACROSS THE
PLAINS. WIDESPREAD CLOUDS AND SNOW ARE HOLDING STEADY JUST NORTH OF
CTB AND HVR AT 09Z...BUT AM EXPECTING THIS TO TRACK SOUTH AS 850 TO
700 MB WINDS SWITCH MORE NORTHERLY AFTER 12Z. THE GROUND IS STILL
VERY WARM MOST AREAS...WHICH WILL PREVENT MUCH ACCUMULATION.
HOWEVER...WILL GO WITH A SNOW ADVISORY FOR FAVORED UPSLOPE AREAS
ABOVE 4000 FEET ALONG THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT SOUTH TO CASCADE AND
JUDITH BASIN COUNTIES...AS GOOD LIFT IS FOCUSED IN THIS AREA AS
WELL. LIFTED INDICES ARE ALSO FORECAST TO BE JUST BELOW ZERO WITH
STEEPER LAPSE RATES ALONG THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT...WHICH SHOULD
HELP SNOWFALL AMOUNTS...BUT BELIEVE CLOUD COVER WILL STIFLE ANY
THUNDERSTORMS. WILL LEAVE EASTERN PLAINS WITH LIKELY POPS WITH LITTLE
ACCUMULATION. THE SOUTHWEST SHOULD ESCAPE MOST OF THE PRECIPITATION
TODAY AS IT WILL TAKE A WHILE FOR THIS MOISTURE TO REACH DOWN THERE.
AIRMASS STABILIZES TONIGHT AS THE UPPER TROUGH JUST NORTH OF THE
BORDER THIS MORNING DIGS SOUTH OVER THE CWA...WHICH ALSO GET RID OF
THE BEST LIFT AS WELL. LINGERING VORTICITY ON THE BACK SIDE OF THIS
TROUGH WILL KEEP A CHANCE OF SHOWERS INTO WEDNESDAY...BUT A MORE
ANTICYCLONIC NORTHWEST FLOW DEVELOPS WEDNESDAY NIGHT FOR PARTLY
CLOUDY SKIES. HOWEVER...A WEAK SHORTWAVE MOVES THROUGH THE SOUTHERN
HALF OF THE STATE FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION THERE AGAIN
FOR THURSDAY. AS THIS UPPER TROUGH MOVES EAST WEDNESDAY THROUGH
THURSDAY...A VERY SLOW RECOVERY OF TEMPERATURES IS ALSO EXPECTED.
WINDS TODAY WILL BE BREEZY OUT OF THE NORTHWEST TO NORTH BEHIND THE
FRONT...BUT THEY WILL DECREASE FOR TONIGHT THROUGH THE SHORT TERM
PERIOD AS THE SURFACE PATTERN WEAKENS. COULSTON
.EXTENDED...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS SHOWING LITTLE CONSISTENCY WITH
LATTER PORTION OF EXTENDED PERIOD...SO WILL NOT MAKE ANY
SIGNIFICANT CHANGES. A SHORTWAVE MOVES THROUGH THE CWA FRIDAY FOR A
CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION...WITH ANOTHER WEAKER SHORTWAVE MOVING
THROUGH ON SATURDAY. THIS LATTER FEATURE IS A NEW WRINKLE...SO WILL
GO FROM PARTLY CLOUDY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY FOR SATURDAY. OTHERWISE...
THE MODELS DIFFER ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY...WITH THE MRF ESTABLISHING A
TROUGH OVER THE WESTERN CONUS...AND THE ECMWF KEEPING THE TROUGH
MORE NORTHEAST TO SOUTHWEST ORIENTED OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.
THE MRF SOLUTION POINTS TO A COOLER AND UNSETTLED PATTERN...WITH THE
ECMWF KEEPING THINGS QUIETER. THIS UNCERTAINTY WILL KEEP ME FROM
DEVIATING FROM THE MOSTLY CLOUDY/CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION IN GOING
FORECAST. COULSTON
.CCF NUMBERS
GTF JE 041/025 043/020 046 10+42
EOBEE 028/047 023/052 037/058 037/060 037 01442222222
CTB JE 035/022 041/018 043 10+21
EOBEE 026/046 019/050 035/058 035/060 035 01442222222
HLN OE 052/026 046/028 049 10532
EOBEE 028/046 023/054 037/059 037/062 037 01442222222
BZN EE 056/024 048/024 052 10222
EOBEE 028/045 027/052 035/062 035/062 035 02443222222
WEY EE 045/015 040/010 042 10232
EJBEE 022/041 014/049 022/055 022/055 022 02455333322
DLN EE 058/026 048/023 052 10222
EOBEE 028/048 023/052 035/062 035/062 035 02442222222
HVR JE 037/020 042/020 044 10621
EOBEE 028/045 023/053 037/062 037/062 037 01332222222
LWT JE 040/023 041/020 045 10742
EOBEE 026/045 021/050 034/058 034/058 034 01443222222
.TFX...SNOW ADVISORY TODAY ABOVE 4000 FEET FOR NORTHERN ROCKY
MOUNTAIN FRONT AND ADJACENT PLAINS. (ZONES 9...10...46)
SNOW ADVISORY LATE THIS MORNING THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON ABOVE
4000 FEET FOR SOUTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND PORTIONS OF
CENTRAL MONTANA. (ZONES 12...48...49...50)3 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
A winter storm moved through the Northern Rocky Mountain Front and the adjacent plains on the 23rd. The snow fell through much of the morning and early afternoon hours. Total snow accumulations form this event were 6 to 8 inches over the plains, and 8 to 10 inches in the mountains.
A winter storm moved through the Northern Rocky Mountain Front and the adjacent plains on the 23rd. The snow fell through much of the morning and early afternoon hours. Total snow accumulations form this event were 6 to 8 inches over the plains, and 8 to 10 inches in the mountains.
A winter storm moved through the Northern Rocky Mountain Front and the adjacent plains on the 23rd. The snow fell through much of the morning and early afternoon hours. Total snow accumulations form this event were 6 to 8 inches over the plains, and 8 to 10 inches in the mountains.
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: 5289141, 5289142, 5290721.