High Wind in Montana, December 16 to 17, 2003

Name: High Wind in Montana, December 16 to 17, 2003
Start: 2003-12-16T12:15
End: 2003-12-17T03:15
Location: Montana

December 16 to 17, 2003 · NWS TFX · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

Strong west winds created a high wind event from the morning of the 16th until early morning on the 17th. Reported wind speeds include: a wind gust of 67 mph at Lewistown 10S, a gust of 59 mph at the Two Medicine DOT site, and sustained wind speeds of 40 mph at the Cut Bank airport, Pendroy 7W and at the Sweetgrass DOT site.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

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 TFX wrote it up.

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 Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 16, 9:30 AM MST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 16, 9:30 AM MST, 2 hours 45 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
930 AM MST TUE DEC 16 2003

.SHORT TERM...NO UPDATES NEEDED THIS MORNING AS CURRENT FORECAST
PACKAGE LOOKS GOOD. UPPER RIDGE OVER THE AREA TODAY GETS FLATTENED
TONIGHT AS SHORT WAVE ENERGY MOVES ACROSS THE NORTH. TIGHT SURFACE
GRADIENT WILL PERSIST TODAY AND BECOME EVEN TIGHTER TONIGHT
WITH PASSAGE OF SHORT WAVE. HENCE...HIGH WIND WARNINGS WILL REMAIN
IN PLACE. PLENTY OF MOISTURE MOVING THROUGH RIDGE KEEPING SKIES
CLOUDY. EMANUEL

.LONG TERM...THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH
PRESSURE BUILDS OVER THE REGION ON THURSDAY. STRONG SURFACE LOW THAT
WAS PROGGED TO MOVE EAST ACROSS CENTRAL ALBERTA IS NOW FORECASTED TO
GO A FEW HUNDRED MILES FURTHER NORTH. THEREFORE...THE HIGH WIND
WATCH WILL BE CANCELED FOR THURSDAY. ON FRIDAY...THE RIDGE REMAINS
OVER THE AREA BUT MOVES EAST ON SATURDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL WARM UP
NICELY ACROSS THE REGION...WITH TEMPERATURES CLOSE TO 15 DEGREES
ABOVE ON FRIDAY. ANY PRECIP ON FRIDAY WILL BE CONFINED TO THE
WESTERN MOUNTAINS DUE TO THE OROGRAPHIC WESTERLY FLOW. FOR
SUNDAY...THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BREAKS DOWN AND THE FLOW ALOFT
BECOMES NORTHWEST. BUT WITH SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING INTO
SOUTHERN IDAHO...EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO BE A BIT COOLER THAN
SATURDAY...BUT WITH MOSTLY DRY CONDITIONS. BRUSDA

MONDAY AND TUESDAY...THE UPPER AIR RIDGE OVER THE NORTHWEST IS
PUSHING INTO WESTERN MONTANA AND BRINGING NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT TO
THE STATE. A MINOR TROUGH MOVING THROUGH THE FLOW ON MONDAY, WILL
HAVE LITTLE AFFECT ON THE WEATHER. HIGH PRESSURE DOMINATES THE
SURFACE PATTERN THROUGH THE PERIOD. THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE MOVES OVER
THE STATE ON TUESDAY. THE FLOW SWITCHES TO THE SOUTHWEST EARLY
TUESDAY, BRINGING MOIST FLOW INTO WESTERN MONTANA. THE MOIST FLOW
WILL BRING A CHANCE OF SHOWERS TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND THE
SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS. THE DOWNSLOPE WINDS WILL KEEP THE PLAINS DRY,
AND ENHANCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SURFACE TROUGH OVER CENTRAL
MONTANA TUESDAY AFTERNOON. THE SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL KEEP THE
TEMPERATURES MILD FOR THE PERIOD. PREWITT

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF NN 046/033 045/027 049 04000
    BBEEB 035/051 029/043 025/041 021/036 019 00000000000
CTB NN 045/032 042/024 048 04000
    BBEEB 032/050 026/042 023/040 019/035 018 00000000000
HLN EB 040/029 044/020 044 04010
    BBEEB 024/046 022/040 023/038 020/034 020 00000000000
BZN BB 033/024 042/013 039 0401-
    BBEEB 017/041 014/035 020/033 019/032 018 00000000000
WEY BB 026/010 029/002 031 04022
    BBEEE 006/033 012/027 010/025 009/026 015 00000000220
DLN EB 038/024 039/014 041 04031
    BBEEB 018/043 019/037 018/035 017/030 016 00000000221
HVR BB 044/030 042/022 044 04000
    BBEEB 028/048 024/040 022/038 019/037 017 00000000000
LWT BB 045/030 044/022 045 04000
    BBEEB 028/049 025/041 024/039 021/034 018 00000000000

.TFX...HIGH WIND WARNING ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND EASTERN
       GLACIER COUNTY TUESDAY THROUGH EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING
       (ZONES 9/10/48).
       HIGH WIND WARNING CENTRAL MONTANA TUESDAY NIGHT AND EARLY
       WEDNESDAY MORNING (ZONES 12/14/46/49/50/51/54).

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 16, 6:00 AM MST, 6 hours 15 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
600 AM MST TUE DEC 16 2003

MTZ008>015-044>055-171300-
BEAVERHEAD-NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT-GLACIER-HILL-CASCADE-
CHOUTEAU-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN LEWIS AND CLARK-MADISON-TOOLE-
LIBERTY-EASTERN PONDERA-BLAINE-SOUTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT-
EASTERN TETON-JUDITH BASIN-FERGUS-JEFFERSON-BROADWATER-MEAGHER-
GALLATIN-
600 AM MST TUE DEC 16 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
MONTANA

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT TODAY THROUGH 9 AM WEDNESDAY
FOR THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND EASTERN GLACIER COUNTY.

A HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR A PORTION OF CENTRAL
MONTANA FROM 5 PM THIS EVENING THROUGH 9 AM WEDNESDAY.

PLEASE REFER TO GTFNPWTFX FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

Event by event

6 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, North Rocky Mountain Front

When: December 16, 12:15 PM MST
Where: North Rocky Mountain Front forecast zone
Measured: 51 kt (59 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Eastern Glacier

When: December 16, 10:00 PM MST to December 17, 12:30 AM MST
Where: Eastern Glacier forecast zone
Measured: 35 kt (40 mph) measured sustained
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Southern Rocky Mountain Front

When: December 16, 10:00 PM MST to December 17, 12:30 AM MST
Where: Southern Rocky Mountain Front forecast zone
Measured: 35 kt (40 mph) measured sustained
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Toole

When: December 16, 10:00 PM MST to December 17, 12:30 AM MST
Where: Toole forecast zone
Measured: 35 kt (40 mph) measured sustained
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Eastern Pondera

When: December 16, 10:00 PM MST to December 17, 12:30 AM MST
Where: Eastern Pondera forecast zone
Measured: 35 kt (40 mph) measured sustained
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

High Wind, Fergus

When: December 17, 3:15 AM MST
Where: Fergus forecast zone
Measured: 58 kt (67 mph) measured gust
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Montana in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, December 2003

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: 5328036, 5328037, 5328038, 5328040, 5328041, 5328039.