2 high wind, 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 Feb 5, 2:35 PM MST, 2 hours 25 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 235 PM MST TUE FEB 5 2002 .SHORT TERM...UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILDING OVER MONTANA TODAY WITH MID LEVEL CLOUDS MOVING OVER NW MT AND INTO CNTRL PART OF STATE. SURFACE GRADIENTS CONTINUE TIGHTENING UP...AND THUS WINDS WILL INCREASE TODAY. A RATHER STRONG S/WV TROUGH WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHERN ALBERTA WITH TRAILING ENERGY INTO CENTRAL MONTANA TONIGHT. AVN QUITE A BIT STRONGER THAN ETA/CAN MODELS. AVN HAS H7 WINDS AT 50 TO 55KT COMPARED 50KT AS PER ETA MODEL BETWEEN 06Z AND 12Z TONIGHT. ETA/CAN WAS ABOUT 6HR SLOWER AND FELT MORE COMFORTABLE WITH POSITION OF SHORTWAVE. WILL ISSUE HWW FOR ZONES 9 AND 48 FOR LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH 13Z WED AM. THICKNESS VALUES UP SOME 50 METERS OVR YESTERDAYS FOR WARMER TEMPS. HOWEVER... SOME SW VALLEYS WILL REMAIN COOL UNDER INVERSION. RIDGE BUILDS BACK ON WEDNESDAY...BUT WILL GO FOR SCT MOUNTAIN POPS AS MOISTURE ADVECT INTO WESTERN AND CENTRAL MT. WINDS WILL ALSO DECREASE AS PRESSURE GRADIENTS DECREASES. COOLING TREND SETS IN BY THURSDAY AS UPPER FLOW BECOMES ZONAL WITH SEVERAL WEAK S/WVS EMBEDDED IN FLOW ALOFT MOVES THROUGH. WINDS WILL INCREASE AS SURFACE LOW MOVES EAST ACROSS SOUTHERN CANADA. .EXTENDED...MRF ONCE AGAIN SHOW A 180 DEGREE TURN FROM PREVIOUS 24 HOURS. MRF IS NOW MORE IN LINE WITH ECWMF IN KEEPING BROAD RIDGE OVER AREA URGING 4 TO 7 DAYS. THICKNESS LOWERS URGING PERIOD FOR COOLER TEMPERATURES. MRF KEEPS DOWNSLOPE GRADIENTS THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY. THEN BRINGS COLD AIR MAINLY INTO NORTHEAST MONTANA...AND MAY GET INTO THE EAST PART OF KGTF CWFA ON DAYS 6 AND 7. OTHERWISE NOT MUCH CHANGE TO EXTENDED PACKAGE. WILLIAMSON DC .CCF NUMBERS GTF NN 048/034 042/022 040 20011 ENNNE 020/040 018/038 020/038 019/036 019 11111111111 CTB NN 048/030 040/024 036 20011 ENNNE 018/037 019/036 017/034 015/033 015 11111111111 HLN BB 045/025 042/020 036 20012 EEEEE 016/038 019/035 018/036 016/034 016 11222222222 BZN BB 033/009 032/012 030 20013 EEEEE 010/036 017/037 014/038 012/036 012 22222222222 WEY BJ 024/902 024/906 024 20013 EEEEE 903/026 000/030 000/033 903/030 903 31222222222 DLN BE 032/015 035/018 032 20022 EEEEE 015/036 018/035 014/036 012/033 012 11222222222 HVR NN 051/022 045/018 040 20110 ENNNE 015/037 016/038 014/036 013/033 013 21111111111 LWT BB 046/026 043/022 036 20121 ENNNE 019/037 018/036 017/035 014/033 014 11111111111 .TFX...HIGH WIND WARNING ZONES 9 AND 48 THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT FOR LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A high wind event occurred over the Rocky Mountain front late on February 5th and early on February 6th. Sustained winds of 44 mph were reported in Two Medicine at 2000 MST on the 5th. A wind gust of 65 mph was reported in Choteau at 2200 MST on the 5th.
A high wind event occurred over the Rocky Mountain front late on February 5th and early on February 6th. Sustained winds of 44 mph were reported in Two Medicine at 2000 MST on the 5th. A wind gust of 65 mph was reported in Choteau at 2200 MST on the 5th.
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, February 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: 5282877, 5282878.