High Wind in Montana, February 10, 2002

Name: High Wind in Montana, February 10, 2002
Start: 2002-02-10T19:56
End: 2002-02-10T19:56
Location: Montana

February 10, 2002 · NWS BYZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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 Feb 10, 1:51 PM MST, 6 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 10, 1:51 PM MST, 6 hours 5 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
151 PM MST SUN FEB 10 2002

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR MON...TUE...WED...
HIGH WINDS FOR THE PLAINS OF EASTERN MONTANA LOOK LIKE A GOOD BET
MONDAY. EVERYTHING COMING TOGETHER FOR A SIGNIFICANT HIGH WIND EVENT AS
RIDGE RAPIDLY BREAKS DOWN TONIGHT AND MONDAY. MILD AIR WILL BE PUSHED
OUT LATER TONIGHT WITH STRONG COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE. ETA 6HR PRESSURE
RISES BEHIND COLD FRONT MONDAY MORNING 8-10MB ACROSS SOUTHEAST. THAT
COMBINED WITH GOOD LINKAGE ALOFT...SYNOPTIC SCALE SUBSIDENCE...LAPSE
RATES BECOMING UNSTABLE AFTER 12Z...AND H8 WINDS 50-60 KNOTS WILL PUSH
WINDS ABOVE HIGH WIND CRITERIA. BUFKIT SHOWING 69 KNOTS OF POTENTIAL
MOMENTUM TRANSFER MONDAY MORNING AT MLS. BIL WILL BE ON THE EDGE OF
STRONG WINDS...BUT WILL PUT IN WATCH FOR NOW.

EXPECT SOME CLOUDS WITH COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE. HOWEVER NORTH FACING
SLOPES MAY SEE A FEW SHOWERS MONDAY WITH GOOD UPSLOPE. WILL PUT IN
ISOLATED POPS IN APPROPRIATE ZONES.

AFTER SYSTEM MOVES THROUGH...EASTERN MONTANA WILL BE UNDER NORTHWEST
FLOW TUESDAY. TEMPS WILL BE A LITTLE COOLER. SFC GRADIENT LOOKS WINDY
AGAIN...BUT NOT AS STRONG AS MONDAY. RIDGE PUSHES A LITTLE CLOSER TO
ZONES WEDNESDAY. STRONG DOWNSLOPE GRADIENT WILL KEEP WINDS GOING IN THE
WEST...BUT SHOULD START TO DECREASE IN THE EAST. TEMPS WILL BEGIN TO
WARM UP AGAIN AS THICKNESS VALUES CLIMB TO AROUND 540 DM. SCARLETT

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR THU...FRI...SAT...SUN...
EXTENDED MODELS REMAIN FAIRLY CONSISTENT THROUGH THE PERIOD IN
MAINTAINING A DRY WESTERLY FLOW OF AIR ALOFT OVER THE FORECAST AREA
THROUGH FRIDAY. SPLIT FLOW TO BE OVER MONTANA THROUGH FRIDAY WITH UPPER
LEVEL DYNAMICS REMAINING WELL SOUTH OF OUR AREA. FLOW ALOFT BECOMES
SOUTHWEST ON SATURDAY AS TROF BEGINS MOVING IN FROM THE WEST COAST. AS
TROF SWINGS THROUGH SUNDAY...A COLD FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH THE AREA.
WINDS ACROSS THE AREA WILL BE DOWN SLOPING AND DO NOT EXPECT MUCH CHANCE
FOR PRECIPITATION. WITH WESTERLY FLOW OVER THE AREA THROUGH FRIDAY...
TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN WARM AND WILL STAY CLOSE TO THE MEX SOLUTION.
WILL BEGIN COOLING TEMPERATURES ON SUNDAY AS COLD AIR ADVECTION TAKES
PLACE. RICHMOND

    MON     TUE     WED     THU     FRI     SAT     SUN
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 033/044 018/037 022/045 024/043 025/048 025/048 023/043
    00/N    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    02/E
LVM 030/040 014/034 020/044 023/040 024/042 024/042 022/038
    02/N    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    02/E
HDN 030/045 015/038 020/046 023/044 023/050 023/050 021/045
    00/N    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    02/E
MLS 029/044 018/035 018/045 020/041 021/046 023/046 021/040
    00/N    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    02/E
4BQ 029/044 015/034 017/044 019/040 020/045 023/045 020/041
    00/N    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    02/E
BHK 027/043 014/032 015/040 018/038 018/043 019/042 016/037
    00/N    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    02/E
SHR 025/044 012/034 012/044 020/042 021/044 022/046 019/040
    00/N    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    02/E

.BYZ...HIGH WIND WATCH MONDAY FOR SOUTHEAST MONTANA AND PORTIONS OF
       SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA.

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Wheatland/Park/Sweet Grass

When: February 10, 7:56 PM MST
Where: Wheatland/Park/Sweet Grass forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

56 mph sustained winds in Livingston

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

Every storm in Montana in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, February 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: 5278833.