2 winter storm, 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 Mar 11, 3:00 AM MST, 3 hours earlier.
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
300 AM MST MON MAR 11 2002
.SHORT TERM...ZONAL FLOW WILL DOMINATE THE NEXT FEW DAYS AND
CONTRIBUTE TO BOTH A HIGH WIND WARNING AND WINTER STORM WARNING OVER
AND NEAR THE ROCKIES. THE 3H JET APPROACHES WRN MT EARLY TODAY AND IS
WELL OVER THE CWA BY TONIGHT. A SHORT WAVE...WITH MOST DYNAMICS
MOVING ACROSS SRN ALTA...WILL HELP DEVELOP THE LEE-SIDE TROF AT THE
SURFACE. 7H WINDS AT 50 KTS OR GREATER BY 18Z TODAY OVER ROCKIES...
WINDS DROP OFF BY 12Z TUESDAY...ALTHOUGH WINDS OVER THE ROCKIES MAY
STILL BE NEAR WARNING CRITERIA AS WE APPROACH MID-DAY TUESDAY. THE
SAME SYSTEM CAUSING WINDS WILL RESULT IN SNOW OVER THE NORTHERN
ROCKIES. RADAR CONTINUES TO SHOW SNOW OVER THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS.
MOISTURE INCREASES AS WE APPROACH MORNING AND LASTS THRU TUESDAY
MORNING...WHILE STRONG WESTERLY WINDS CONTINUE. TEMPS WILL BE WARM...
BUT SHOULD STILL BE COLD ENOUGH FOR SNOW AT THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS.
THICKNESSES INCREASE BY AT LEAST 10 DECAMETERS ACROSS THE CWA FROM
YESTERDAY...AND DOWNSLOPE WINDS WILL ADD TO THAT...SO TEMPS 15
DEGREES HIGHER TODAY MAY BE POSSIBLE. BOUNDARY SHOULD MAKE IT THRU
HVR TODAY. ALSO...OVERNIGHT TEMPS WILL BE QUITE WARM AS WINDS
CONTINUE. TEMPS WILL DROP TUESDAY AS WINDS LESSEN AND JET DROPS
SOUTH OF THE ZONES.
.EXTENDED...FAIRLY ZONAL AS THE PERIOD BEGINS. HOWEVER CYCLONIC FLOW
ALOFT SHOULD KEEP THE AREA SLIGHTLY UNSETTLED...SHOWERS OVER THE
MOUNTAINS AND CONSIDERABLE MID TO HIGH CLOUDINESS. TEMPS WILL REMAIN
SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL. COLD ARCTIC AIR IS FORECAST TO MOVE SOUTH OF
THE BORDER AGAIN ON THE WEEKEND. COOLER TEMPS AND ANOTHER PERIOD OF
SNOW. ZELZER
.CCF NUMBERS
GTF NN 055/036 047/025 040 13011
BEEJJ 014/031 016/031 013/028 011/026 011 11222233333
CTB NN 050/033 042/022 038 13021
BEEJJ 014/029 014/029 009/025 006/022 006 11222233333
HLN NN 053/033 042/022 038 13-22
BEEJJ 014/030 018/033 015/030 014/030 014 11222222233
BZN EC 048/030 046/020 035 13112
EEEJJ 016/034 012/032 008/030 008/030 008 11122222233
WEY EC 039/020 035/012 025 13234
EJJJJ 010/023 002/020 002/020 002/020 002 22234444444
DLN EC 045/030 042/018 035 13222
EEEJJ 016/036 015/034 012/030 008/030 008 11122222233
HVR NN 045/028 042/020 034 13-1-
BEEJJ 014/032 016/030 009/025 005/022 005 11222233333
LWT NN 052/032 044/020 036 13011
BEEJJ 014/031 016/031 012/028 010/026 010 11222233333
.TFX...HIGH WIND WARNING ...SEE WWUS75 KGTF/NPWGTF
WINTER STORM WARNING...SEE WWUS45 KTFX/WSWGTF2 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
A winter storm occurred over the higher elevations of the Rocky Mountain Front on the 11th. The heaviest snow was mainly confined to areas above 5000 feet. The Pike Creek, Waldron and Mount Lockhart SNOTEL sites, all reported over one inch of water equivalent during this event.
A winter storm occurred over the higher elevations of the Rocky Mountain Front on the 11th. The heaviest snow was mainly confined to areas above 5000 feet. The Pike Creek, Waldron and Mount Lockhart SNOTEL sites, all reported over one inch of water equivalent during this event.
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, March 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: 5287224, 5287342.