Montana, 2002Winter Storm in Montana, February 28, 2002
February 28, 2002 · NWS TFX · 7 events in 7 counties and zones
7 winter storm, as filed by the National Weather Service.
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 7
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 Feb 27, 8:30 PM MST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 27, 8:30 PM MST, 3 hours 30 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
830 PM MST WED FEB 27 2002
...WILL UPDATE ZONES...
.SHORT TERM...00Z ETA/MESO-ETA MODELS SEEM TO HAVE A BETTER HANDLE
ON POSITIONING THE SURFACE LOW OVER SRN ALTA THIS EVENING. MODELS
CONTINUE TREND OF DROPPING SURFACE LOW AND UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE
SOUTH THROUGH CNTRL MT TONIGHT. BY 12Z...CYCLONIC UPPER LEVEL FLOW
IS OVER ENTIRE CWA...AND THE SURFACE LOW IS CENTERED OVER S CNTRL
MT. COLD FRONT PUSHES SOUTH BEHIND THE LOW...WITH MOIST UPSLOPE FLOW
BECOMING WELL ESTABLISHED OVER THE PLAINS. CURRENT WARNINGS AND
ADVISORIES SEEM TO HAVE A GOOD HANDLE ON THE SITUATION...SO WILL
ALLOW THEM TO CONTINUE. BASED UPON MODEL QPF WILL RAISE POPS TO
CATEGORICAL FOR TONIGHT AND THURSDAY AT HAVRE. WILL ALSO EXPAND THE
ADVISORY TO INCLUDE CHOUTEAU AND HILL COUNTIES...SINCE UPSLOPE FLOW
SHOULD ALLOW AREAS TO NORTH OF THE BEARS PAW AND HIGHWOOD MOUNTAINS
TO RECEIVE LOCALLY HEAVY SNOWS. TEMPERATURES APPEAR TO BE ON TRACK...
SO WILL NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES TO OVERNIGHT LOWS. MPJ
EXTENDED...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS CONTINUE TO BE CONSISTENT RUN TO
RUN. MODELS AGREE ON BUILDING A RIDGE OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC ON
SATURDAY...WITH A POSITIVE TILT TROUGH FROM HUDSON BAY TO THE SWRN
CONUS. BY SUNDAY THE MRF/AVN/UKMET ARE CONSISTENT FLATTENING THE
RIDGE AND BRINGING W-NW FLOW ALOFT OVER THE STATE. ECMWF IS THE ROGUE
MODEL...CONTINUING A STRONG RIDGE OVER THE ERN PACIFIC..AND MORE NLY
FLOW ALOFT. WILL GO WITH THE COOLER AND WETTER MRF/AVN SOLUTION SINCE
MAJORITY OF MODELS HAVE BEEN TRENDING THIS WAY. HOWEVER...WILL TAKE
ADVICE OF NCEP AND TREND THE FORECAST A BIT SLOWER THAN WHAT MODELS
ARE SHOWING. MPJ
.CCF NUMBERS
GTF SJ 012/016 904/015 004 07794
ENJJE 032/018 040/019 030/013 032/015 029 42111333322
CTB JJ 010/012 906/013 002 07653
ENEJE 030/016 038/015 029/010 027/009 029 21111223322
HLN SJ 016/020 003/015 005 07793
EEJJE 032/014 038/019 036/014 031/016 030 32112444422
BZN SJ 015/020 904/014 905 07++4
EEJJE 028/006 035/015 034/016 036/012 032 42112444422
WEY SJ 905/015 905/010 915 07++4
EESSJ 020/909 024/903 024/000 028/903 025 42123666633
DLN SJ 012/022 004/015 001 07773
EEJJJ 028/011 035/017 038/019 037/016 033 32112444433
HVR JE 010/015 904/015 005 07653
ENJJE 030/012 038/017 028/009 028/012 026 21111333321
LWT SJ 012/018 004/015 002 078+4
ENJJE 030/016 037/015 030/014 030/015 030 42111333322
.TFX...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR MTZ008 BELOW 6000 FEET
AND MTZ009-011>014 AND MTZ048-049-052>054
WINTER STORM WARNING FOR MTZ008 ABOVE 6000 FEET
AND MTZ015-050-051-055Winter Storm, Cascade
- When
- February 28, 12:00 AM MST to 4:00 PM MST
- Where
- Cascade forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Areas of snow developed over North Central Montana near 0000 MST on the 28th. The storm then moved into Southwest Montana during the mid morning hours. Snow accumulations over North Central Montana were generally between 6 and 8 inches, while over Southwest Montana, 3 to 5 inches were common. In the mountains of Southwest Montana, snow accumulations ranged from 12 to 24 inches. Widespread blowing and drifting of the snow occurred over Southwest Montana, with visibilities less than one half mile at times.
Winter Storm, Madison
- When
- February 28, 12:00 AM MST to 4:00 PM MST
- Where
- Madison forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Areas of snow developed over North Central Montana near 0000 MST on the 28th. The storm then moved into Southwest Montana during the mid morning hours. Snow accumulations over North Central Montana were generally between 6 and 8 inches, while over Southwest Montana, 3 to 5 inches were common. In the mountains of Southwest Montana, snow accumulations ranged from 12 to 24 inches. Widespread blowing and drifting of the snow occurred over Southwest Montana, with visibilities less than one half mile at times.
Winter Storm, Judith Basin
- When
- February 28, 12:00 AM MST to 4:00 PM MST
- Where
- Judith Basin forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Areas of snow developed over North Central Montana near 0000 MST on the 28th. The storm then moved into Southwest Montana during the mid morning hours. Snow accumulations over North Central Montana were generally between 6 and 8 inches, while over Southwest Montana, 3 to 5 inches were common. In the mountains of Southwest Montana, snow accumulations ranged from 12 to 24 inches. Widespread blowing and drifting of the snow occurred over Southwest Montana, with visibilities less than one half mile at times.
Winter Storm, Fergus
- When
- February 28, 12:00 AM MST to 4:00 PM MST
- Where
- Fergus forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Areas of snow developed over North Central Montana near 0000 MST on the 28th. The storm then moved into Southwest Montana during the mid morning hours. Snow accumulations over North Central Montana were generally between 6 and 8 inches, while over Southwest Montana, 3 to 5 inches were common. In the mountains of Southwest Montana, snow accumulations ranged from 12 to 24 inches. Widespread blowing and drifting of the snow occurred over Southwest Montana, with visibilities less than one half mile at times.
Winter Storm, Jefferson
- When
- February 28, 12:00 AM MST to 4:00 PM MST
- Where
- Jefferson forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Areas of snow developed over North Central Montana near 0000 MST on the 28th. The storm then moved into Southwest Montana during the mid morning hours. Snow accumulations over North Central Montana were generally between 6 and 8 inches, while over Southwest Montana, 3 to 5 inches were common. In the mountains of Southwest Montana, snow accumulations ranged from 12 to 24 inches. Widespread blowing and drifting of the snow occurred over Southwest Montana, with visibilities less than one half mile at times.
Winter Storm, Broadwater
- When
- February 28, 12:00 AM MST to 4:00 PM MST
- Where
- Broadwater forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Areas of snow developed over North Central Montana near 0000 MST on the 28th. The storm then moved into Southwest Montana during the mid morning hours. Snow accumulations over North Central Montana were generally between 6 and 8 inches, while over Southwest Montana, 3 to 5 inches were common. In the mountains of Southwest Montana, snow accumulations ranged from 12 to 24 inches. Widespread blowing and drifting of the snow occurred over Southwest Montana, with visibilities less than one half mile at times.
Winter Storm, Gallatin
- When
- February 28, 12:00 AM MST to 4:00 PM MST
- Where
- Gallatin forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Areas of snow developed over North Central Montana near 0000 MST on the 28th. The storm then moved into Southwest Montana during the mid morning hours. Snow accumulations over North Central Montana were generally between 6 and 8 inches, while over Southwest Montana, 3 to 5 inches were common. In the mountains of Southwest Montana, snow accumulations ranged from 12 to 24 inches. Widespread blowing and drifting of the snow occurred over Southwest Montana, with visibilities less than one half mile at times.
- Winter Storm
- A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
- Heat in New Jersey, February 28, 200220 events
- Heat in Pennsylvania, February 28, 200210 events
- Frost and Freeze in Florida, February 28, 20027 events
- Extreme Cold in Alabama, February 28, 20027 events
- Heat in Maryland, February 28, 20025 events
- Heat in Delaware, February 28, 20024 events
- High Wind in California, February 28, 20023 events
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, February 28, 20022 events
- High Wind in Alaska, February 28, 20022 events
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, February 28, 20021 event
- Heavy Snow in Wyoming, February 28, 20021 event
- Heavy Snow in Montana, February 28, 20021 event
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: 5282881, 5282882, 5282883, 5282884, 5282885, 5282970, 5282971.