High Wind in Montana, January 7, 2002

Name: High Wind in Montana, January 7, 2002
Start: 2002-01-07T03:00
End: 2002-01-07T03:00
Location: Montana

January 7, 2002 · NWS TFX · 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 Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 7, 2:35 AM MST, 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 7, 2:35 AM MST, 25 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
235 AM MST MON JAN 7 2002

.SHORT TERM...HIGH WINDS WILL BE THE MAIN CONCERN IN THE SHORT
TERM...AS WINDS HAVE ALREADY EXCEEDED WARNING CRITERIA OVER THE
ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT. WILL HOLD OFF ON EXPANDING THE HIGH WIND
WARNING INTO MOST OF NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FOR NOW...AS IT SEEMS
WINDS WILL BE JUST BELOW HIGH WIND CRITERIA...BUT WILL CLOSELY
MONITOR THE SITUATION. THE NEXT FORECAST PROBLEM IS FOR THE POTENTIAL
FOR SNOW IN THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY. AN
IMPRESSIVE FEED OF MOISTURE INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST...SEEN ON
WATER VAPOR IMAGERY...IS FORECAST BY BOTH AVN/ETA TO MOVE INTO
WESTERN MONTANA DURING THE DAY MONDAY. THE MAIN MECHANISM FOR
PRODUCING PRECIP WILL BE OROGRAPHIC LIFT IN COMBINATION WITH MOIST
WESTERLY FLOW WITH ONLY WEAK EMBEDDED DISTURBANCES PASSING THROUGH.
WILL MENTION LIKELY PRECIP FOR THE MOUNTAINS OVER THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN
FRONT WITH SNOW LEVELS DROPPING TO NEAR 5000 FT BY EARLY TUESDAY
MORNING. OF LESSER IMPORTANCE...BUT STILL NOTEWORTHY IS THE NEAR
RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE POTENTIAL FOR TODAY. MANY LOCATIONS OVER THE
PLAINS WILL REACH THE MID 50S THIS AFTERNOON WITH STRONG DOWNSLOPE
WINDS. HOWEVER UNDER MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES TEMPS SHOULD REMAIN BELOW
RECORD VALUES...WHICH ARE 60 OR ABOVE AT MOST LOCATIONS. JPV

.EXTENDED...MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE BEGINNING OF THE
EXTENDED PERIOD AS ANTI-CYCLONIC NORTHWEST FLOW CONTINUES. NO
PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED WITH DOWNSLOPE WINDS OVER THE PLAINS. THE
ONLY PROBLEM IN THE FORECAST IS THE POSSIBILITY OF AN ARCTIC FRONT
APPROACHING FROM THE NORTH LATE IN THE UPCOMING WEEKEND. THE MRF HAS
BEEN THE MOST CONSISTENT WITH THIS FEATURE SO I WILL STICK WITH THE
SUNDAY TIMING FOR NOW AS IT IS OUT AT DAY 7. NO NEED TO MAKE ANY
CHANGES TO THE GOING FORECAST. JCA

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF NN 056/042 050/028 045 16001
   NUUNS 030/050 034/050 038/052 034/034 034 11000000044
CTB NN 055/038 047/027 043 16011
   NUUNS 027/048 032/046 035/050 025/025 025 11000000044
HLN NN 048/032 048/028 045 16122
   BUUUE 025/045 025/046 028/048 033/040 033 21000000033
BZN EN 042/030 046/022 040 16123
   BUUUE 015/038 015/038 015/040 025/040 025 31000000033
WEY EN 033/015 030/012 028 16135
   JUUUE 000/030 002/030 003/030 015/032 015 51000000033
DLN EN 045/030 045/022 040 16123
   BUUUE 018/038 015/038 018/040 025/040 025 31000000022
HVR NN 055/033 048/025 044 16001
   NUUUS 024/047 026/045 030/048 028/028 028 11000000044
LWT NN 055/039 050/028 044 16001
   NUUUS 025/048 028/048 035/052 032/034 032 11000000044

.TFX...HIGH WIND WARNING ZONES 9-10-46-48-49 THROUGH MONDAY
       AFTERNOON.

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, North Rocky Mountain Front

When: January 7, 3:00 AM MST
Where: North Rocky Mountain Front forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Reported from Browning.

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, 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: 5276785.