Montana, 2002

Winter Storm in Montana, May 7 to 8, 2002

May 7 to 8, 2002 · NWS GGW · 16 events in 16 counties and zones

A late season winter storm brought heavy snow to northeast Montana. The highest snow total was 14 inches in the Larb Hills south of Hinsdale.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 16 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
16

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 happened

The episode as NWS GGW wrote it up.

A late season winter storm brought heavy snow to northeast Montana. The highest snow total was 14 inches in the Larb Hills south of Hinsdale. Winnett received 12 inches of snow with 10 inches of snow reported at Wolf Point, Loring, and Whitetail. The remainder of Northeast Montana received between 6 and 9 inches of snow from this storm.

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 Glasgow, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 7, 1:22 AM MST, 5 hours 38 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 7, 1:22 AM MST, 5 hours 38 minutes before
NORTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT
222 AM MDT TUE MAY 7 2002

...WILL ISSUE WINTER STORM WARNING FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA TODAY...

.SHORT TERM...UPPER LOW OVER WASHINGTON WITH UPPER TROUGH DIGGING
OVER THE PACIFIC COAST BUCKLING FLOW ALOFT INTO A MOIST SW
DIRECTION. PLENTY OF PACIFIC MOISTURE NOW STREAMING NE ACROSS
MONTANA AND STARTING TO OVERRUN FRONTAL BOUNDARY OVER WYOMING.
OVERRUNING AND ISENTROPIC LIFT WILL MOVE NORTHEAST INTO GGW FORECAST
TODAY AS UPPER LOW SLIDES EAST IN WRN MONTANA. WHILE HEAVY SNOW
SHOULD OVERSPREAD MOST AREAS THIS MORNING...DRIER AIR ENTRAINING
INTO THE NE ZONES FROM SASKATCHEWAN MAY DELAY THE ONSET OF SNOW NE
OF OLF UNTIL THIS AFTERNOON. WILL COVER ALL ZONES WITH A WINTER
STORM WARNING STARTING TODAY TO SIMPLIFY HEADLINES.

UPPER LOW TRACKS EAST ACROSS CENTRAL MONTANA TONIGHT AND EASTERN
MONTANA ON WED. STRONG WAVE ROUNDS THE BASE OF THE TROUGH IN IDAHO
TUESDAY NIGHT AND MOVES INTO EASTERN MONTANA WED MORNING. WRAP
AROUND MOISTURE WITH UPPER LOW COULD KEEP HEAVY SNOW LINGERING OVER
THE EASTERN ZONES INTO WED AFTERNOON DEPENDING ON HOW QUICKLY THE
LOW MOVES EAST. MODEL PRECIP AMOUNTS FOR THIS EVENT RANGE FROM 0.75
TO 1.20 INCHES. THIS WOULD TRANSLATE INTO UP TO A FOOT OF SNOW FOR
THIS EVENT. EXPECT HEAVIEST SNOW IN UPSLOPE AREAS OF LITTLE ROCKIES
AND PETROLEUM COUNTY. WITH FAIRLY STACKED LOW EXPECTED...I WOULD NOT
BE SURPRISED IF THE SNOW LINGERS LONGER THAN THE MODELS ARE
FORECASTING. WILL WORD THE WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH ALL DAY
WEDNESDAY FOR ALL ZONES. WILL ALSO LOWER WED HIGHS INTO THE 30S.

SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE MOVES ACROSS EASTERN MONTANA WED NIGHT. IF
SKIES CLEAR AS FORECASTED BY THE ETA...THE ALL TIME RECORD LOW OF 15
FOR MAY AT GGW COULD BE BROKEN. WILL FORECAST 15 TO 20 FOR LOWS WED
NIGHT FOR NOW. WITH SNOW COVER EXPECTED...WILL LOWER HIGHS FOR THU
TO THE 40S.

.LONG TERM...UPPER LEVEL TROUGH DROPPING SOUTH ALONG THE BRITISH
COLUMBIA COAST WILL INDUCE A RIDGE OVER EASTERN MONTANA. THIS WILL
BRING A WARMING TREND. TROUGH SWINGS ACROSS NORTHEAST MONTANA OVER
THE WEEKEND. WILL CONTINUE GOING FORECAST OF UNSETTLED CONDITIONS
THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK.   FORRESTER

KGGW SSB /035 026/036 018/045 79++800
     WWWW 026/057 031/060 031/063 031/064 031/ 79133333333
KGDV SSB /034 025/035 018/045 79++930
     WWWW 027/052 032/056 033/057 032/056 036/ 79133333333

.GGW...WINTER STORM WARNING ALL ZONES TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

16 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Central and Se Phillips

When
May 7, 7:00 AM MST to May 8, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Central and Se Phillips forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.259, -107.913 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Central and Southern Valley

When
May 7, 7:00 AM MST to May 8, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Central and Southern Valley forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.365, -106.667 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Daniels

When
May 7, 7:00 AM MST to May 8, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Daniels forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.784, -105.549 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Dawson

When
May 7, 7:00 AM MST to May 8, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Dawson forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.266, -104.899 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Eastern Roosevelt

When
May 7, 7:00 AM MST to May 8, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Eastern Roosevelt forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.295, -105.016 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Garfield

When
May 7, 7:00 AM MST to May 8, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Garfield forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.278, -106.993 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Little Rocky Mountains

When
May 7, 7:00 AM MST to May 8, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Little Rocky Mountains forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.259, -107.913 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, McCone

When
May 7, 7:00 AM MST to May 8, 3:00 PM MST
Where
McCone forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.645, -105.795 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Northern Phillips

When
May 7, 7:00 AM MST to May 8, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Northern Phillips forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.259, -107.913 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Northern Valley

When
May 7, 7:00 AM MST to May 8, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Northern Valley forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.365, -106.667 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Petroleum

When
May 7, 7:00 AM MST to May 8, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Petroleum forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.118, -108.250 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Prairie

When
May 7, 7:00 AM MST to May 8, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Prairie forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.861, -105.378 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Richland

When
May 7, 7:00 AM MST to May 8, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Richland forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.788, -104.561 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Sheridan

When
May 7, 7:00 AM MST to May 8, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Sheridan forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.721, -104.505 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Western Roosevelt

When
May 7, 7:00 AM MST to May 8, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Western Roosevelt forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.295, -105.016 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Wibaux

When
May 7, 7:00 AM MST to May 8, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Wibaux forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.965, -104.249 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm
A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

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, May 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: 5295736, 5295737, 5295738, 5295739, 5295740, 5295741, 5295742, 5295743, 5295744, 5295745, 5295746, 5295747, 5295748, 5295749, 5295750, 5295751.