Montana, 2002

High Wind in Montana, January 24, 2002

January 24, 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 24, 8:34 PM MST, 1 hour 26 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 24, 8:34 PM MST, 1 hour 26 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
834 PM MST THU JAN 24 2002

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR FRI...SAT...SUN...
MAIN PROBLEMS TONIGHT ARE WINDS AND TEMPERATURES. WINDS CONTINUE VERY
STRONG IN LVM BUT HAVENT HIT HIGH WIND SINCE THIS AFTERNOON. PRESSURE
GRADIENT REMAINS STRONG OVERNIGHT WITH SOME INCREASE IN 700 MB WINDS
AS BROAD SURFACE LOW IN CANADA REMAINS NEARLY STATIONARY. ALL SPELLS
KEEPING HIGH WIND WARNING UP FOR UPPER YELLOWSTONE VALLEY. WINDS
CURRENTLY GUSTING TO 34 MPH IN MLS...AS ATMOSPHERE REMAINS MIXED IN
EASTERN ZONES. THINK WINDS WILL COME DOWN SOME...BUT WILL HAVE TO
BUMP WINDS UP A BIT. IN ASSOCIATION TO THE WINDS IN EAST...TEMPERATURE
REMAIN VERY WARM THERE...SHR AS WELL. WILL ALSO UP TEMPERATURES IN EAST
AND SHERIDAN. OTHER THAN THAT...FORECAST ON TRACK....UPDATE ON THE WAY.
RASCH

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR MON...TUE...WED...THU...
MEDIUM RANGE MODELS IN OK AGREEMENT. EASTERN MONTANA HEADED FOR A
PATTERN CHANGE EARLY NEXT WEEK...WITH SNOW AND MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES
ON THE HORIZON. WHILE FIRST SHOT OF ARCTIC AIR IS SCHEDULED FOR
SATURDAY NIGHT...MUCH STRONGER SHOT OF ARCTIC AIR WILL MOVE INTO ZONES
MONDAY AFTERNOON/TUESDAY MORNING. MONDAY WILL BE THE WARMEST DAY.
TEMPS WILL REALLY TAKE A PLUNGE TUESDAY...WITH COLDEST TEMPS OF THE
SEASON LIKELY BY THURSDAY MORNING...SPLY IF IT CLEARS OUT.
BEST CHANCES FOR SNOW WILL BE MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING.
NEW AVN RUN HAS FOLLOWED UP MRF IDEA OF DEVELOPING LONGWAVE TROUGH
ACROSS NORTHERN PLAINS. STRONGER SHORTWAVE ROTATING AROUND TROUGH
PROGGED TO DEVELOP SFC LOW IN IDAHO MONDAY NIGHT...THEN PUSH IT
THROUGH NORTHERN WYOMING WEDNESDAY. WHILE MUCH UNCERTAINTY EXISTS
WITH THIS SOLUTION...DO BELIEVE THERE WILL BE SNOW AS MUCH COLDER AIR
MOVES IN WITH SOME UPSLOPE/OVERRUNNING DEVELOPING. PATTERN LOOKS GOOD
FOR AT LEAST SOME LIGHT SNOW...WITH POTENTIALLY HEAVIER SNOWFALL
DEPENDING ON DEPTH OF COLD AIR AND TRACK OF LOW. SCARLETT

    FRI     SAT     SUN     MON     TUE     WED     THU
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 028/044 022/039 014/019 005/019 001/010 910/005 910/012
    00/E    02/E    43/J    34/S    44/S    32/I    21/I
LVM 030/044 020/039 012/018 010/022 005/014 908/009 908/020
    00/N    03/J    43/J    34/S    44/S    32/I    21/I
HDN 030/047 020/040 012/019 002/018 902/008 914/003 914/010
    00/E    02/E    43/J    34/S    44/S    32/I    21/I
MLS 031/047 022/041 012/018 002/011 906/006 913/004 915/004
    00/E    00/E    43/J    34/S    44/S    42/I    21/I
4BQ 030/046 022/040 012/018 000/009 908/004 915/002 918/002
    00/E    00/E    43/J    34/S    44/S    42/I    21/I
BHK 028/044 020/039 010/016 904/007 910/002 918/901 920/000
    00/E    00/E    43/J    34/S    44/S    42/I    21/I
SHR 031/049 018/043 014/022 009/022 904/015 912/004 913/010
    00/E    00/E    43/J    34/S    44/S    42/I    21/I

.BYZ...HIGH WIND WARNING UPPER YELLOWSTONE VALLEY INTO FRIDAY MORNING.

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Wheatland/Park/Sweet Grass

When
January 24, 10:00 PM MST
Where
Wheatland/Park/Sweet Grass forecast zone
Measured
50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

50 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

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: 5279503.