The combination of rapid snowmelt and rain caused flooding in portions of the town of Cottonwood. The Cottonwood Bowl building was closed due to flood waters that had worked under the floors and into the bowling lanes.
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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 combination of rapid snowmelt and rain caused flooding in portions of the town of Cottonwood. The Cottonwood Bowl building was closed due to flood waters that had worked under the floors and into the bowling lanes.
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 Mar 9, 1:46 AM MST, 6 hours 14 minutes earlier.
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
146 AM MST SUN MAR 9 2003
.SHORT TERM...WIDESPREAD SNOW CONTINUES ACROSS PARTS OF WESTERN
MONTANA...ESPECIALLY IN MTZ043. RADAR INDICATES GOOD SNOW BANDING
AROUND THE SEELEY LAKE AREA...NORTHWEST INTO THE MISSION AND
FLATHEAD VALLEYS. NEXT VORT MAX ALREADY STARTING TO INFLUENCE
CENTRAL IDAHO AREA. SATELLITE SHOWS SOME GOOD ENHANCEMENT...COOLING
OF CLOUD TOPS IN CENTRAL IDAHO. MODERATE SNOWS STARTING UP AGAIN IN
THE MOUNTAINS THERE. BOTH THE ETA AND AVN SOLNS BRING ABUNDANT QPF
TO THE AREA TODAY...ESPECIALLY AFTER 18Z. CURRENTLY PREFER
THE ETA SOLUTION AS IT SEEMS TO INITIALIZE BETTER THAN THE
AVN/GFS SOLN IN PLACEMENT OF CURRENT MOISTURE. NEVERTHELESS
ALL AREAS IN WHICH THERE IS A WSW OUT FOR LOOKS TO BE GOOD. THUS
WILL UPDATE THE WSW TO KEEP THE CURRENT WARNINGS GOING THROUGH
TODAY AND TONIGHT WITH CURRENT SNOW ELEVATION RISES LATE TODAY
AND TONIGHT. THE BIG QUESTION OF THE DAY IS HOW MUCH WARM AIR WILL
MIX INTO MTZ003. BOTH MODELS KEEP TEMPS BELOW FREEZING IN KALISPELL
TODAY. TEMPS HAVE BEEN STEADY OR RISING TONIGHT...CURRENTLY AT 16
DEGREES IN FCA UP 7 DEGREES FROM 10 PM. MODEL SOUNDINGS SHOW TEMPS
AT OR JUST BELOW FREEZING BY 00Z. LEANING TOWARD THE SOLUTION THAT
STARTS MIXING RAIN AND FREEZING RAIN AROUND 00Z...SO WILL MAKE SOME
MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO THE WSW AND CURRENT ZONES FOR THIS TIMING
ISSUE. RPN
.LONG TERM...MODELS AGREE ON EXTENDED SOLUTION. WESTERLY UPPER LEVEL
FLOW WITH SLIGHT RIDGING OVER MONTANA ON WEDNESDAY. RIDGE BUILDS
AND AXIS MOVES OVER OHIO VALLEY BY SATURDAY IN RESPONSE TO DEEP
LOW BUILDING IN THE GULF OF ALASKA. THEREFORE UPPER LEVEL FLOW
CHANGES FROM WESTERLY ON WEDNESDAY TO SOUTHWESTLY THURSDAY THROUGH
SATURDAY. KEPT CURRENT TREND OF WARMING UNDER RIDGE BUT
UNDERCUTTING MOS TEMPERATURES. FOCUSED PRECIP IN MOUNTAINS OF
WESTERN ZONES AS SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW SETS IN...BUT TROUGH AXIS MAKES
LITTLE EASTWARD PROGRESS THROUGH SATURDAY. MWJ
.MSO...WINTER STORM WARNING ABOVE 4000 FT FOR IDZ005-006 MTZ004-
006 TODAY AND TONIGHT...
...WINTER STORM WARNING ABOVE 4500 FT FOR MTZ043 TODAY
THROUGH TONIGHT...
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW BELOW 4500 FT FOR MTZ043
TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT...
...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR MTZ001-002 ABOVE 4500 FT TODAY
AND TONIGHT...
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW MTZ001-002 BELOW 4500 FEET
TODAY...
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW MTZ003 TODAY...
...URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY FOR IDZ005-006
TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT...
...7-DAY SPOT TEMPS AND POPS...
LIB SRE /039 031/043 027/046 4099723
EEEE 028/049 029/047 029/045 029/044 027/ 41343444555
FCA SOE /029 029/041 025/042 4099723
BBBB 026/045 027/044 027/041 027/040 025/ 41112222333
POL SOE /032 030/043 026/044 4088723
EBBB 027/046 028/046 028/044 028/043 026/ 41312222222
MSO ROB /041 034/044 030/045 4066623
EBBB 031/046 032/045 032/044 032/043 030/ 41411112222
HMM ROB /045 035/048 030/048 4066623
EBBB 031/045 032/047 032/046 032/045 030/ 41411112222
BTM JEB /040 027/041 021/040 4055413
BBBB 022/041 023/041 026/039 026/038 026/ 41100002222
ORO SEE /050 042/054 039/055 4077433
EEEE 040/057 041/052 041/051 041/050 039/ 41413444444
GRV SEE /047 037/048 033/048 4066433
EEEE 034/049 035/050 035/047 035/046 033/ 41442223333
SMN RBB /049 032/052 028/049 4055413
BBBB 029/045 030/044 030/043 030/042 028/ 41302002222MTZ001>007-043-IDZ005>010-101300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 600 AM MST SUN MAR 9 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO .DAY ONE... TODAY NUMEROUS WINTER STORM WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND WESTERN MONTANA TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT FOR MAINLY HEAVY SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS. SEE WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE GTFWSWMSO FOR DETAILS. IN ADDITION...URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING IS POSSIBLE IN NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO. SEE FLOOD STATEMENT GTFFLSMSO FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY A UNSETTLED WET PATTERN WILL REMAIN OVER THE AREA MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. BUT WARMER TEMPERATURES WILL BRING A CHANCE OF VALLEY RAIN WITH SNOW EXPECTED MAINLY OVER THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS. RELATIVELY DRYER CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. ADDITIONALLY...WARMER TEMPERATURES...AND RECENT HEAVY MOUNTAIN SNOW COULD CREATE INCREASED SMALL STREAM FLOODING. .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.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, March 2003
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: 5346809.