A strong cold front crossed northeast Montana during the morning hours of the 17th. Strong gradient winds occurred immediately behind the front.
Every event with a place to put it; 9 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 GGW wrote it up.
A strong cold front crossed northeast Montana during the morning hours of the 17th. Strong gradient winds occurred immediately behind the front. Sustained wind speeds of 40 to 50 mph were common with wind gusts of up to 68 mph. The highest measured wind gust was 68 mph at King Coulee Raws in northern Garfield county. A semi truck and trailer was blown off Interstate 94 in Dawson County, and overturned while attempting to exit the highway. The driver suffered minor injuries.
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 Dec 17, 2:00 AM MST, 3 hours 54 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 200 AM MST WED DEC 17 2003 ...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR MOST AREAS TODAY... .SHORT TERM...FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA...TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY... SHORTWAVE MOVING ACROSS NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA AT THIS TIME WILL MOVE QUICKLY ACROSS NORTHEAST MONTANA THIS MORNING. UPPER RIDGE WILL REBOUND TONIGHT WITH SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING INTO MONTANA AND REMAIN OVER THE AREA THROUGH FRIDAY. TODAY...SHORTWAVE QUICKLY PASSES THROUGH NORTHEAST MONTANA WITH LEFT FRONT QUAD OF 130 KNOT UPPER LEVEL JET NOSING IN. WITH LAPSE RATES APPROACHING 8 DEG C/KM THIS MORNING AND UP TO 70 KNOT WINDS BETWEEN 700 AND 800 MB IN THE MODEL SOUNDINGS AND DECENT SUBSIDENCE TO BRING IT TO THE SURFACE...GOING HIGH WIND WARNING FOR MOST OF THE FORECAST AREA LOOKS GOOD. WINDS HAVE ALREADY GUSTED AS HIGH AS 50 MPH AT ZORTMAN RAWS DURING THE NIGHT WHICH IS NEAR THE 850 MB LEVEL. WILL KEEP THE NE CORNER ZONES OUT OF THE WARNING WERE CLOUD COVER IS EXPECTED TO LIMIT MIXING. EXPECT A MILD DAY TEMPERATUREWISE WITH GOOD MIXING EXCEPT IN THE NE WHERE SKIES SHOULD REMAIN CLOUDY WITH SURFACE LOW MOVING THROUGH SOUTHERN SASKATCHEWAN. SKIES SHOULD CLEAR ELSEWHERE AS DRIER AIR MOVES IN BEHIND THE SHORTWAVE. TONIGHT...SURFACE HIGH BUILDS INTO MONTANA AND WYOMING WHICH SHOULD DECOUPLE WINDS QUICKLY THIS EVENING EXCEPT IN THE EAST WHERE WINDS USUALLY TAKE LONGER TO DIMINISH. THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...UPPER RIDGE BUILDS BACK INTO MONTANA WITH SURFACE HIGH REMAINING IN THE AREA. THURSDAY WILL BE SOMEWHAT COOLER WITH COOLER AIR AND LESS MIXING IN THE AREA. WARM AIR ADVECTION RETURNS THURSDAY NIGHT RESULTING IN A WARMER DAY FRIDAY. FORRESTER .LONG TERM...FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY... MODELS IN UNUSUALLY GOOD AGREEMENT FOR THIS FORECAST PERIOD. WEAK SHORT WAVE TO BRUSH THE AREA ON SATURDAY FOR PARTLY CLOUDY WORDING IN FORECAST. STRONGER SHORT WAVE FOR SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT FORECAST BY MOST MODELS TO DIVE SOUTHEAST ACROSS WEST AND CENTRAL MONTANA. ABUNDANT CLOUDINESS FORECAST ACROSS THE CWA FOR THAT TIME PERIOD BUT WITH DRY FORECAST LEFT AS IS. COOLER TEMPS MONDAY FOLLOWING THE SHORT WAVE. UPPER RIDGE BUILDS BACK NORTH ACROSS THE AREA SOMEWHAT ON TUESDAY WITH SOME WARMING NOTED. DECREASED NIGHTTIME WINDS THROUGH MUCH OF THE PERIOD AS EXPECT DECOUPLING WILL OCCUR ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA WITH LONG NIGHTS AND RESIDUAL SNOW COVER ACROSS PART OF THE CWA. NO OTHER CHANGES OF NOTE DURING THIS RELATIVELY QUIET TIME PERIOD. LYNN && .KGGW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING TODAY FOR MTZ016-017-020>026-059>061 &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 1006 PM MST TUE DEC 16 2003 MTZ016-017-020>027-059>061-171300- CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN PHILLIPS-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY-DAWSON- GARFIELD-MCCONE-NORTHERN PHILLIPS-NORTHERN VALLEY-PETROLEUM-PRAIRIE- RICHLAND-SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS COUNTY-WESTERN ROOSEVELT-WIBAUX- 1006 PM MST TUE DEC 16 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA .DAY ONE... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... A HIGH WIND WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR WEDNESDAY. 30 TO 45 MPH WEST TO NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED WITH GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH. PLEASE SEE WWUS75 KGGW OR GTFNPWGGW FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. OTHERWISE NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. MTZ018-019-062-171300- DANIELS-EASTERN ROOSEVELT-SHERIDAN- 1006 PM MST TUE DEC 16 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA .DAY ONE... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. STRONG WEST TO NORTHWEST WIND OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ON WEDNESDAY. OTHERWISE NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
9 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, December 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: 5330844, 5330843, 5330840, 5330842, 5330841, 5330838, 5330839, 5330845, 5330837.