1 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 Jan 8, 2:38 AM MST, 6 hours 22 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 238 AM MST TUE JAN 8 2002 .SHORT TERM...HIGH WIND WARNING HAS BEEN REISSUED FOR THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND EASTERN GLACIER COUNTY. AT 200 AM CUT BANK WAS REPORTING WINDS OF 58 MPH GUSTING TO 67 MPH. THE 06Z MESOETA HAS FORECAST 700MB WINDS 60 TO 70 KTS ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH MID- MORNING ON TUESDAY. THUS...WILL KEEP AN EYE ON WINDS OVER MOST OF NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA OVERNIGHT AS WELL...AND MAY NEED TO EXPAND HIGH WIND WARNING. MEANWHILE...MOISTURE CONTINUES TO FEED INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AHEAD OF A SERIES OF STORMS. THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS WILL CONTINUE TO SEE RAIN AND SNOW...WITH SNOW LEVELS DROPPING TO 7000 FEET BY MORNING. THE MAIN SHORT WAVE WITH THIS FIRST SYSTEM WILL WEAKEN AS IT MOVES THROUGH MONTANA...AS IT WILL GET STRUNG OUT IN AN AREA OF UPPER-LEVEL CONFLUENCE. ALSO...DOWNSLOPE WINDS SHOULD ELIMINATE ANY PRECIP OVER THE PLAINS. THEREFORE...EXPECT SCATTERED RAIN/SNOW SHOWERS MAINLY OVER THE WESTERN AND SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS ASSOCIATED WITH OROGRAPHIC LIFT. BY WEDNESDAY...THE UPPER-LEVEL ENERGY FROM A SECONDARY STORM FROM THE PACIFIC IS PROGGED TO SPLIT... WITH ONE PIECE OF ENERGY MOVING WELL SOUTHWEST OF MONTANA AND THE OTHER DIVING SOUTH-EASTWARD THROUGH EASTERN AND CENTRAL MONTANA. WITH MORE OF A NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT...AND A FAIRLY POTENT VORT MAX MOVING THROUGH...WILL MENTION SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE MOUNTAINS WITH ISOLATED RAIN/SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE PLAINS FOR WEDNESDAY. JPV .EXTENDED...LATEST MRF/AVN IN BETTER AGREEMENT WITH YESTERDAYS ECMWF MODEL. HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE GREAT BASIN WILL REMAIN IN PLACE THROUGH SATURDAY WITH MAINLY ZONAL FLOW OVER THE CWA. THE FLOW PATTERN BECOMES MORE SOUTHWEST IN RESPONSE TO AN UPPER TROF MOVING ON-SHORE SATURDAY MORNING. THIS TROF IS NOW SHOWN BY ALL 3 MODELS AS MOVING INTO WESTERN MT SATURDAY EVENING PROVIDING A CHANCE FOR SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND SW VALLEYS WITH DOWNSLOPE WINDS OVER THE PLAINS. SUNDAY LOOKS MUCH COOLER AS NORTHWEST FLOW TAPS INTO AN ARCTIC AIRMASS IN WESTERN CANADA. ANOTHER REINFORCING SHOT OF COLD AIR LOOKS TO DIVE DOWN FROM THE NORTH ON MONDAY AS ANOTHER SHORTWAVE SLIDES SOUTH OUT OF ALBERTA IN RESPONSE TO A SHARP RIDGE OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA. THIS SECONDARY FEATURE MAY PROVIDE A FOCUS FOR MORE SNOW SHOWERS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OVER THE PLAINS. CURRENT FORECAST HAS A GOOD HANDLE ON THESE FEATURES...THUS WILL NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES. JCA .CCF NUMBERS GTF NE 057/033 043/030 048 16112 BBNNN 031/050 038/050 026/034 020/030 020 11100011122 CTB NB 052/031 042/026 044 16111 BBNNN 030/048 035/047 022/028 016/026 016 11100011122 HLN NB 050/030 042/018 040 16221 BUUNE 021/046 028/048 025/035 020/032 020 11100022222 BZN EE 047/022 038/015 035 16222 BUUNE 015/038 018/044 025/034 015/030 015 21100022222 WEY JE 032/012 025/008 022 16532 BUUNE 002/030 008/035 015/032 005/028 005 11100033344 DLN EB 047/022 036/015 034 16221 BUUNE 015/038 022/042 024/032 016/030 016 11100022222 HVR NE 056/029 043/020 046 16112 BBNNN 022/042 033/048 025/033 018/028 018 11100011122 LWT NE 057/027 042/025 046 16112 BBNNN 028/046 035/052 026/034 016/028 016 11100011122 .TFX...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR ZONES 9-10-48 THROUGH 10 AM.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Sustained winds of 35 KTS with gusts near 60 KTS throughout the early morning hours in the city of Choteau.
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, January 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: 5276994.