2 extreme cold/wind chill, 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 7, 9:00 PM MST, 3 hours earlier.
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
900 PM MST THU MAR 7 2002
UPDATED FORECAST BY 930 PM.
LOCAL STORM REPORT WITH SNOW TOTALS THRU 8 PM HAS BEEN SENT OUT.
.SHORT TERM...NO REAL BIG CHANGES TO CURRENT FORECAST. WE WILL EXTEND
THE HEAVY SNOW WARNING THROUGH TONIGHT FOR ALL OF SOUTHWEST
MONTANA..AND CONTINUE IT FOR FERGUS AND JUDITH BASIN COUNTIES. SNOW
CONTINUES TO FALL...HEAVY AT TIMES EAST OF GREAT FALLS. THIS IS DUE
TO A WEAK UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE MOVING NORTHEAST THROUGH THE AREA...
BUT WITH PLENTY OF LIFT AND VERY COLD AIR AT THE SURFACE...THE SNOW
CONTINUES TO FALL. A VERY FINE LIGHT SNOW CONTINUES TO FALL FROM
GREAT FALLS...NORTHEAST TO HAVRE...AT A RATE NEAR 0.1 INCHES PER
HOUR. EXPECT TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS THIS EVENING OF 1 TO 2 INCHES
IN THIS AREA...WHICH IS JUST BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA...SO NO
ADVISORY. ADDITIONALLY...ETA FOUS KEEPS GREAT FALLS DRY...AND
UPPER AIR SOUNDING HAS LESS PRECIPITABLE WATER THAN LAST
NIGHT. TEMPERATURES CONTINUE TO FALL IN MOST AREAS...LOWS WILL
AVERAGE BETWEEN 5 BELOW AND 15 BELOW IN MOST AREAS. THE CURRENT
SURFACE LOW PULLS AWAY BY 12Z FRIDAY...AS NEXT ALBERTA CLIPPER DROPS
SOUTH. EXPECT A CHANCE FOR SNOW OF FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING OVER
THE NORTH AS IT PUSHES THROUGH. TEMPERATURES STILL LOOK UNSEASONABLY
COLD FOR FRIDAY. MID LEVEL WINDS PICK UP OUT OF THE WEST ON FRIDAY
NIGHT...THIS WILL HELP END THE SNOW AS WELL AND BEGIN TO WARM THINGS
UP ON SATURDAY...BUT COULD CREATE SOME VERY BAD BLOWING AND DRIFTING
OF THE SNOW PROBLEMS BY SATURDAY...AND NEEDS TO BE WATCHED.
.EXTENDED...MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...WE BEGIN THE PERIOD WITH A
WEAK SHORT WAVE RIDGE TRYING TO BUILD INTO WESTERN MONTANA. WEAK
SHORT WAVES WILL THEN MOVE ACROSS THE CWA ON TUESDAY. MID LEVEL
WINDS ARE PROGGED TO BE A BIT MORE WESTERLY TODAY THEN YESTERDAY...
SO EXPECT GUSTY WINDS AND WARM TEMPERATURES OVER THE NORTHERN PLAINS
MONDAY AND TUESDAY. COOLER AIR WILL BEGIN TO SLIP INTO THE AREA BY
TUESDAY AFTERNOON...AS THE SECOND SHORT WAVE MOVES THROUGH. BY
WEDNESDAY...ANOTHER ALBERTA CLIPPER COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE
AREA. THIS WILL COOL THINGS DOWN A BIT MORE...AS A SURFACE LOW
DEVELOPS OVER WYOMING BY THURSDAY. EXPECT A CHANCE FOR SNOW OVER MUCH
OF SOUTHWEST MONTANA BY THEN...WITH A CHANCE FOR UPSLOPE OVER NORTH
CENTRAL MONTANA. BRUSDA
UPDATED
.CCF NUMBERS
GTF EE 910/008 004/031 025 04+22
NNNEJ 043/027 046/025 041/021 038/021 036 11111122333
CTB EC 920/005 905/018 014 04133
NNNEJ 041/026 044/025 040/020 035/018 034 11111122333
HLN EE 906/014 006/032 024 04+22
EEEEJ 044/023 045/022 040/023 038/023 035 11122222333
BZN CE 905/013 006/028 018 04+22
EEEEJ 038/015 038/018 034/017 032/018 030 11122222333
WEY CC 012/016 908/022 004 04+44
EJJJJ 030/901 028/000 026/005 025/014 027 21144444455
DLN EE 905/016 010/030 020 04+22
EEEEJ 040/019 036/020 034/018 032/018 030 11111112333
HVR EE 908/006 908/018 010 04812
ENEEJ 042/015 044/020 040/018 038/019 036 11111122333
LWT EE 910/010 004/031 022 04+22
ENEEJ 040/022 042/020 039/018 037/019 035 11111122333=
.TFX...
...HEAVY SNOW WARNING FOR TONIGHT FOR ALL OF SOUTHWEST MONTANA
ALONG WITH JUDITH BASIN AND FERGUS COUNTIES...LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
830 PM MST THU MAR 7 2002
TIME(MST) .....EVENT LOCATION..... ST ...EVENT/REMARKS...........
.....COUNTY LOCATION.....
0800 PM 6 N TOWNSEND MT HEAVY SNOW
03/07/02 BROADWATER 8 INCHES TODAY
2 FOOT DRIFTS
0800 PM 22 S LEWISTOWN MT HEAVY SNOW
03/07/02 FERGUS 6 INCHES TODAY
0800 PM LEWISTOWN MT HEAVY SNOW
03/07/02 FERGUS 3 INCHES TODAY
0800 PM CLANCY MT HEAVY SNOW
03/07/02 JEFFERSON 8 INCHES TODAY
0800 PM HOBSON MT HEAVY SNOW
03/07/02 JUDITH BASIN 5-6 INCHES TODAY
0800 PM 5 W STANFORD MT HEAVY SNOW
03/07/02 JUDITH BASIN 4-5 INCHES TODAY
0800 PM 7 SW UTICA MT HEAVY SNOW
03/07/02 JUDITH BASIN 4 INCHES TODAY
0800 PM HELENA MT HEAVY SNOW
03/07/02 LEWIS AND CLARK 6 INCHES TODAY ON THE SOUTH
SIDE
0800 PM HELENA MT HEAVY SNOW
03/07/02 LEWIS AND CLARK 9 INCHES TODAY ON THE WEST
SIDE
0800 PM 22 N WHITE SULPHUR SPGS MT HEAVY SNOW
03/07/02 MEAGHER 6 INCHES TODAY
DRIFTING SNOW
.HERE ARE THE SNOW TOTALS THROUGH 8 PM TONIGHT. THE SNOW BEGAN IN
MOST AREAS AFTER 12 PM TODAY. THE SNOW WAS CONTINUING TO FALL IN ALL
OF THESE AREAS...AND WAS STILL HEAVY AT TIMES...OVER JUDITH BASIN
AND FERGUS COUNTIES.
BRUSDA
NNNN2 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Due to a fresh snow cover, and clearing skies on the 7th, the overnight temperatures plummeted to record levels on the morning of the 8th. Cut Bank had a record daily and monthly low temperature of 34 degrees Fahrenheit below zero, while Black Leaf fell to 40 degrees Fahrenheit below zero.
Due to a fresh snow cover, and clearing skies on the 7th, the overnight temperatures plummeted to record levels on the morning of the 8th. Cut Bank had a record daily and monthly low temperature of 34 degrees Fahrenheit below zero, while Black Leaf fell to 40 degrees Fahrenheit below zero.
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: 5285635, 5285636.