1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 27, 2:25 PM MST, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier.
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT...COR TO SUNDAY SPOTS
225 PM MST FRI DEC 27 2002
.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR SAT AND SUN...
SNOW CONTINUES IN THE MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON WITH COOKE CITY
REPORTING ABOUT 3 SNOWFALL INCHES TODAY. A NEARLY STATIONARY 800-700MB
THETA E RIDGE THAT HAS EXTENDED INTO BEARTOOTHS TODAY WILL SLOWLY
MOVE SOUTH TONIGHT AND RESULT IN MOST OF THE SNOW MOVING INTO WY. DONT
FEEL HEAVY SNOW CRITERIA WILL BE MET AND WILL JUST MENTION MOUNTAIN
SNOW. OTHER CONCERN ARE WINDS TONIGHT FOR THE UPPER YELLOWSTONE.
STRONGEST WINDS SO FAR TODAY HAVE BEEN 52 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 65 MPH. A
SHORT WAVE IS NOW MOVING INTO ALBERTA WHICH SHOULD RESULT IN GREATER
PRESSURE FALLS LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING ACROSS NORTHERN
MONTANA. SO THE THREAT OF HIGH WINDS STILL CONTINUES IN LIVINGSTON AND
WILL EXTEND THE WARNING UNTIL 10PM TONIGHT. THE NEXT BIG FORECAST
CONCERN IS SYSTEM FOR LATE SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. MODELS CONTINUE TO
DIFFER ON HOW THE SURFACE LOW DEVELOPS DUE TO FORCING ALOFT...DESPITE
FAIRLY GOOD INITIALIZATIONS. THE SHORT RANGE ENSEMBLES REALLY DONT
PROVIDE MUCH HELP EITHER AS THEY ARE ALL OVER THE PLACE. WILL GO WITH
THE MEAN SOLUTION...WHICH LEAVES THE SURFACE LOW AND MOST OF THE
PRECIPITATION NORTH OF THE CWA. A THERMAL RIDGE SHOULD ALSO PUMP UP
AHEAD OF THE LOW AND KEEP TEMPERATURES ABOVE NORMAL. AFTER COORDIATION
WITH SURROUNDING OFFICES...HAVE INCREASED TEMPERATURES 5 TO 10 DEGREES.
MOORE
.LONG TERM...VALID FOR MON...TUE...WED...THU...FRI...
THE LOW WILL START TO HEAD EAST OF THE AREA LATE SUNDAY AND SUNDAY
NIGHT. MODELS ARE SUGGESTING STRONG 850MB COLD AIR ADVECTION WITH 6 HOUR
PRESSURE RISES AROUND 6MB. THIS WILL BRING WINDY CONDITIONS TO THE
EASTERN PLAINS. PRESSURE RISES OF THOSE VALUES CAN CORRESPOND
TO NEAR HIGH WIND CRITERIA...BUT SUFFICENT DIRECTIONAL WIND SHEAR
BETWEEN 850MB AND 700MB SHOULD PREVENT THAT FROM HAPPENING.
WEEKENDSYSTEM PULLS EAST OF THE AREA DURING THE DAY ON MONDAY. WILL
CONTINUE TO LINGER SNOW SHOWERS IN FAR EAST MONDAY MORNING WITH SOME
WRAPAROUND MOISTURE STILL PRESENT BEHIND SURFACE LOW. COLDER AIR PULLS
INTO EASTERN PART OF CWA BEHIND SYSTEM AND WILL COOL TEMPERATURES
SOMEWHAT IN THE EAST. COLDER AIR IS SHORT LIVED AS NEXT TROUGH PUSHES
INTO WEST COAST ON TUESDAY WITH SOME WARM ADVECTION AHEAD OF IT.
OPERATIONAL GFS DEVELOPING DEFINED SURFACE LOW ON TUESDAY INTO TUESDAY
NIGHT. GFS AND CANADIAN ENSEMBLES AGREE ON IN VICINITY OF WEST COAST BUT
NOT DEPICTING SURFACE LOW DEVELOPING. CONSIDERING THIS WILL KEEP DRY
FORECAST ON PLAINS...BUT KEEP POPS IN SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS WITH MOIST
WESTERLY FLOW. 00Z OPERATIONAL GFS SHOWING COLD SHOT OF AIR PUSHING INTO
NORTHERN ROCKIES FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...WITH ECMWF HINTING AT SIMILAR
SCENARIO. ENSEMBLES SUPPORTING POSSIBLE COOLER AIR FOR THIS PERIOD WITH
NORTH TO NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT...BUT FOR NOW WILL NOT STRAY TO FAR
FROM CLIMATOLOGY WITH LOW CONFIDENCE IN MODEL SOLUTION. JZ
SAT SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 032/047 029/038 015/030 015/033 015/031 015/033 014/032
00/E 02/J 30/B 00/E 00/E 00/E 00/B
LVM 034/046 031/035 012/028 014/031 014/029 013/031 012/031
33/J 34/J 30/E 20/E 00/E 00/E 00/E
HDN 029/044 026/042 014/030 012/034 014/030 013/033 012/032
00/E 02/J 30/B 00/E 00/E 00/E 00/B
MLS 025/043 022/040 012/025 009/032 014/028 012/030 011/029
00/B 03/J 32/J 00/E 00/E 00/E 00/B
4BQ 025/046 025/047 014/026 010/033 013/031 012/032 010/031
00/B 00/N 40/E 00/E 00/E 00/E 00/B
BHK 022/042 022/043 010/021 006/030 011/027 011/028 009/027
00/B 03/J 42/J 00/E 00/E 00/E 00/B
SHR 024/046 024/043 014/029 010/032 014/030 012/032 012/032
00/E 00/E 40/E 00/E 00/E 00/E 00/B
.BYZ...
HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THIS EVENING FOR THE UPPER YELLOWSTONE RIVER NEAR
LIVINGSTON.
WY...NONE.MTZ028>042-056>058-WYZ098-099-281200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT 215 PM MST FRI DEC 27 2002 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL...SOUTHEAST MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING. .DAY ONE... STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 40 TO 55 MPH WITH OCCASIONAL GUSTS TO 65 MPH WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THIS EVENING IN THE UPPER YELLOWSTONE VALLEY. REFER TO GTFNPWBYZ FOR FURTHER DETAILS. THE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DIMINISH TO 25 TO 40 MPH AFTER BY MIDNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. WCJIN-WYNW-WYNE JZ
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS, MT
221 PM MST FRI DEC 27 2002
TIME(MST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0110 PM LIVINGSTON MT 53 MPH NON-TSTORM WIND
12/27/02 PARK EAST LIVINGSTON DOT SITE
TCPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS, MT
431 PM MST FRI DEC 27 2002
TIME(MST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0413 PM LIVINGSTON AIRPORT MT 51 MPH NON-TSTORM WIND
12/27/02 PARK FASTEST 2 MINUTE WIND AT
LIVINGSTON AIRPORT 51 MPH.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
53 mph sustained wind at the Livingston Airport
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, December 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: 5322780.