Name: High Wind in Montana, December 28, 2002
Start: 2002-12-28T02:51
End: 2002-12-28T02:51
Location: Montana

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 Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 27, 8:30 PM MST, 6 hours 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 27, 8:30 PM MST, 6 hours 21 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
830 PM MST FRI DEC 27 2002

.SHORT TERM...WILL DROP ALL WARNINGS...DECREASE WINDS...AND INCREASE
OVERNIGHT LOW TEMPERATURES ACROSS MOST ZONES TO MATCH OBSERVATIONS
AND NEWEST MODEL DATA. PRECIPITATION NOT EXPECTED EXCEPT OVER
MOUNTAINS. WINDY CONDITIONS EXPECTED ACROSS HIGHLINE...BUT BELOW
WARNING CRITERIA.

.EXTENDED...PROGRESSIVE FLOW THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH A COUPLE OF WEAK
TROUGHS ADVANCING QUICKLY THROUGH MONTANA. THIS SHOULD KEEP
TEMPERATURES NEAR SEASONAL AVERAGES WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS
OVER THE MOUNTAINS. POMEROY

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF EE 030/040 019/027 013 07003
    EEEEE 026/016 033/020 037/017 030/014 034 32-00000000
CTB EE 020/030 013/023 008 07002
    EEEEE 024/012 030/017 035/014 027/011 029 32000000000
HLN EE 028/040 017/028 009 07013
    EEEEE 027/013 034/013 039/014 033/017 034 33200000000
BZN ES 023/037 013/026 009 07236
    EEEEE 021/012 028/012 031/011 029/016 033 63211110000
WEY JS 009/022 008/019 002 07668
    ECEEE 015/002 021/002 018/005 022/012 028 85524443222
DLN JS 019/036 016/025 011 07226
    ECEEE 024/012 030/012 033/009 030/017 033 73411110000
HVR EC 024/034 018/024 010 07003
    BEEEE 024/006 027/010 033/012 024/004 029 32-00000000
LWT EC 029/038 018/027 012 07013
    BEEEE 027/010 031/013 032/014 030/009 030 33000000000=

.TFX...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 27, 6:10 AM MST, 20 hours 41 minutes before

MTZ008>015-044>055-280110-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
610 AM MST FRI DEC 27 2002

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA

.DAY ONE...TODAY

...A HIGH WIND WARNING CONTINUES THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT FOR
THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND ADJACENT PLAINS. STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS
30 TO 45 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH ARE EXPECTED IN THESE AREAS. REFER
TO GTFNPWTFX FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Blaine

When: December 28, 2:51 AM MST
Where: Blaine forecast zone
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

A wind gust to 63 mph occurred at Chinook 11S.

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Montana in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, December 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: 5321532.