Montana, 2002

High Wind in Montana, January 19, 2002

January 19, 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 Jan 18, 8:55 PM MST, 5 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 18, 8:55 PM MST, 5 hours 5 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
855 PM MST FRI JAN 18 2002

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR SAT...SUN...MON...
MAIN PROBLEM FOR THIS EVENINGS UPDATE IS FIRST...WIND IN LIVINGSTON THEN
TEMPERATURES. ACTIVE NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT OVER AREA WITH ONE WAVE INTO
PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST...CAUSING PRESSURE GRADIENT TO TIGHTEN UP
QUICKLY TONIGHT ALONG EASTERN SLOPES. IDA-LWT PRESSURE GRADIENTS
CURRENTLY UP TO 15.1 MB AND SHOULD CONTINUE TO INCREASE THROUGH THE
NIGHT. WINDS WILL BE MAINLY PRESSURE GRADIENT DRIVEN IN LVM WITH 700 MB
WINDS NOT TOO HIGH AND FROM THE NORTHWEST. MAY HAVE TO ISSUE HIGH WIND
WARNING LATER THIS EVENING...BUT FOR NOW WILL UP WORDING TO JUST BELOW
AND TAKE A CLOSER LOOK OVER THE NEXT HOUR. WILL BE BREEZY WESTERN
PLAINS TONIGHT WHICH SHOULD KEEP TEMPERATURES...BUT SOME AREAS HAVE
BEEN ABLE TO DROP TO AT OR NEAR FORECAST LOWS SO WILL TWEAK SOME AREAS
DOWN. SOME MOISTURE MAY SPILL INTO LVM WITH WAVE AND CURRENT ISOLATED
CHANCES LOOK GOOD THERE. UPDATE ON THE WAY. RASCH

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR TUE...WED...THU...FRI...
MODELS CONTINUE A NORTHWEST FLOW ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THURSDAY.
SHORT WAVE ENERGY WILL BE MOVING THROUGH THIS FLOW FOR SCATTERED
PRECIPITATION THROUGH THURSDAY. AVN BRINGS IN A FAIRLY STRONG SHORT
WAVE TUESDAY WITH DECENT OMEGA AND MOISTURE OVER THE WESTERN AREAS OF
THE BILLINGS FORECAST AREA. THE LIMITING FACTOR WILL BE DOWN SLOPING
WINDS AND WILL KEEP ONLY SCATTERED POPS. WILL KEEP ISOLATED POPS OVER
THE PLAINS AND EAST AS MOISTURE NOT AS IMPRESSIVE. AS THE TROF MOVES
THROUGH TUESDAY...COOLER AIR WILL BE PULLED DOWN OUT OF CANADA WITH THE
COLDEST AIR OVER THE SOUTHEAST. THE COLDEST ARCTIC AIR WILL REMAIN WELL
NORTH AND EAST OF MONTANA. WILL DROP MENTION OF WINDS FOR TUESDAY AS
SURFACE LOW WILL REMAIN NORTH OF THE BORDER AND PRESSURE GRADIENTS WILL
NOT BE THAT STRONG. ANOTHER CLIPPER TO MOVE THROUGH WEDNESDAY BUT
MRF/ECMWF HAVE DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS ON LOWS EXACT TRACK AND WILL NOT MAKE
ANY CHANGES FOR WEDNESDAY. MODELS BEGIN MOVING IN A RIDGE OF HIGH
PRESSURE THURSDAY WHICH WILL BRING A SLIGHT WARMING TREND AND DRY
WEATHER THROUGH FRIDAY. RICHMOND

    SAT     SUN     MON     TUE     WED     THU     FRI
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 017/035 020/033 022/038 019/030 017/029 016/031 020/037
    00/N    22/N    02/N    22/E    22/E    20/E    00/B
LVM 018/037 017/035 020/038 020/028 016/027 017/033 019/035
    23/N    33/N    12/N    23/J    22/E    20/E    00/B
HDN 010/037 018/035 020/037 018/031 017/030 018/032 021/038
    00/N    22/N    02/N    22/E    22/E    20/E    00/B
MLS 013/033 018/030 016/035 017/027 013/026 014/028 016/030
    00/B    22/J    02/N    22/E    22/E    20/E    00/B
4BQ 010/030 010/028 015/033 016/026 012/025 013/026 014/030
    00/B    22/J    02/N    22/E    22/E    20/E    00/B
BHK 008/030 008/025 013/032 015/025 011/024 012/025 013/029
    00/B    22/J    02/N    22/E    22/E    20/E    00/B
SHR 003/034 015/030 012/036 014/030 010/029 013/034 016/039
    00/B    22/J    02/E    22/E    22/E    20/E    00/B

.BYZ...NONE.

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Wheatland/Park/Sweet Grass

When
January 19, 2:00 AM MST
Where
Wheatland/Park/Sweet Grass forecast zone
Measured
50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

50 mph non-thunderstorm sustained wind 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

More

Every storm in Montana in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, January 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: 5279501.