The first of only two winter storm events during the month for western Montana and north central Idaho occurred over this weekend. Snowfall amounts ranged from 7 to 8 inches in the Bitterroot Mountains, to around one foot in the northwest Montana mountains; Flattop Mountain 10 inches, North Fork Jocko 13 inches, and Cool Creek 9 inches.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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 episode as NWS MSO wrote it up.
The first of only two winter storm events during the month for western Montana and north central Idaho occurred over this weekend. Snowfall amounts ranged from 7 to 8 inches in the Bitterroot Mountains, to around one foot in the northwest Montana mountains; Flattop Mountain 10 inches, North Fork Jocko 13 inches, and Cool Creek 9 inches.
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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 8, 8:48 PM MST, 3 hours 12 minutes earlier.
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
848 PM MST FRI NOV 8 2002
.SHORT TERM...UPDATES TO ZONES...STATE OKAY. EXPERIENCING A LULL IN
THE STORM SITUATION THIS EVENING. MAIN SHORTWAVE TROUGH HAS LIFTED
TO THE CANADIAN BORDER AND WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE OUT OF THE PICTURE.
LIGHT PRECIPITATION IS OCCURRING IN MTZ001-002 WITH ROUGHLY 0.2-0.3
INCH IN LAST SIX HOURS. REST OF THE CWA UNDER INFLUENCE OF WESTERLY
FLOW WITH ISOLATED SHOWERS LEFTOVER FROM AFTERNOON HEATING. SO
FAR...HEAVIEST SNOW AMOUNTS SEEN ARE AROUND SIX INCHES BUT FAIRLY
SPOTTY. SEVERAL TRENDS POINT IN DIRECTION OF LOWERING WINTER STORM
WARNINGS...HOWEVER TOUGH TIME TO DROP IN MIDDLE OF EVENT. SEVERAL
FACTORS ARE FAVORABLE...WINDS AT ALL LEVELS PERPENDICULAR TO
MOUNTAINS...LINGERING INSTABILITY AND AN UPSTREAM SHORTWAVE
MOVING TOWARD THE CWA. CONFIDENCE IS FAIRLY HIGH THAT INTERACTION
WITH THE CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS WILL RESULT IN EXPANDED PRECIPITATION
LATE TONIGHT. ONLY QUESTION IS HOW FAR EAST ACCUMULATING HEAVY SNOWS
WILL OCCUR. AVN SUPPORTS ADEQUATE QPF AMOUNTS FOR ID BUT MAY TRIM
TOTAL AMOUNTS IN MT ZONES. HAVE COORDINATED WITH GEG TO KEEP
STATEMENTS GOING. MAY NEED TO ADJUST A FEW TEMPERATURES LOWER IN THE
FIRST PERIOD. BOLDT
.LONG TERM...THE MODELS SHOW DIRTY RIDGE PATTERN CONTINUE FOR TUE.
WILL KEEP CLOUDS AND THE BEST CHANCE OF PRECIP NORTH WITH RELATIVELY
WARM TEMPS. MAIN WAVE ENERGY PROGGED TO PASS THROUGH CWA WED AM...
FOLLOWED BY MORE SHOWERY CONDITIONS WED. A LOW AMPLITUDE DIRTY
RIDGE WILL KEEP CLOUDS AND CHANCE OF PRECIP IN THE PICTURE FOR
THU/FRI. MSJ
.MSO...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY FOR
MTZ001-002-004-006-043 AND IDZ005-006-009-010
...7-DAY SPOT TEMPS AND POPS...
LIB EEE 034/046 034/044 032/048 32332211
REBC 033/048 031/047 030/045 027/046 3545553333
FCA CEE 034/043 032/041 030/047 32443322
REBC 033/045 031/043 028/042 025/043 3555543222
POL CEE 035/043 033/041 031/047 32443322
CEBC 036/046 034/045 030/044 027/045 3545443222
MSO CEE 034/043 031/041 029/047 32443322
CEBC 034/046 032/045 029/044 025/045 3534442222
HMM CEE 035/045 032/043 030/049 32443322
EEBE 035/049 035/046 030/045 027/046 3523442111
BTM CEE 027/041 024/039 022/045 32443323
ECEE 029/045 026/041 022/042 019/043 3511231111
ORO EEE 040/052 040/050 038/052 32443322
RRBC 041/053 042/052 038/050 034/051 3556652222
GRV CEE 035/050 035/048 033/049 32443322
RRBC 037/048 037/046 032/045 029/046 3555652222
SMN CEE 033/046 029/044 027/047 32443313
EEBE 032/047 027/045 026/045 023/046 3511231111MTZ001>007-043-IDZ005>010-091300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 427 PM MST FRI NOV 8 2002 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHWEST MONTANA MOUNTAINS ABOVE 4500 FEET AND ABOVE 5000 FEET IN NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND WEST CENTRAL MONTANA TONIGHT. SEE GTFWSWMSO FOR DETAILS. A STRONG WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL MOVE MOISTURE OFF THE EASTERN PACIFIC AND INTO THE NORTHERN ROCKIES REGION. PRECIPITATION WILL BE ENHANCED OVER THE MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN WITH SNOW ABOVE 4500 TO 5000 FEET. STRONG WEST WINDS WILL CAUSE BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHWEST MONTANA MOUNTAINS ABOVE 4500 FEET AND ABOVE 5000 FEET IN NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND WEST CENTRAL MONTANA SATURDAY. SEE GTFWSWMSO FOR DETAILS. A WEATHER SYSTEM MOVING INTO THE AREA SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY WILL PROVIDE AN ANOTHER SHOT OF MOISTURE TO THE REGION. ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL FROM THIS SYSTEM MAY CAUSE HAZARDOUS WINTER CONDITIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTH-CENTRAL IDAHO AND WESTERN MONTANA ABOVE 4500 FEET. A THIRD WEATHER SYSTEM WILL IMPACT THE AREA TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY FOR MORE MOUNTAIN SNOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
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, November 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: 5322785, 5322842, 5322843, 5322844.