Heavy Snow in Montana, February 2, 2003

Name: Heavy Snow in Montana, February 2, 2003
Start: 2003-02-02T16:30
End: 2003-02-02T16:30
Location: Montana

February 2, 2003 · NWS BYZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 heavy snow, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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: 1

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 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 Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 2, 2:18 PM MST, 2 hours 12 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 2, 2:18 PM MST, 2 hours 12 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
218 PM MST SUN FEB 02 2003

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR MON AND TUE...
UPPER TROUGH AXIS LINGERING OVER THE AREA WITH NORTHERLY SURFACE FLOW
BRINGING DRIER AIR BUT ALSO CONTINUING TO GENERATE UPSLOPE ALONG THE
SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS. RADAR CONTINUES TO SHOW A DECREASING TREND AND
DESPITE THE AIRMASS BEING A BIT UNSTABLE NO NEW SHOWER ACTIVITY IS
DEVELOPING UPSTREAM. AM CONCERNED THAT THE SIGNIFICANT MOISTURE
ACROSS THE AREA WITH NORTHERLY FLOW MAY KEEP SOME FOG IN THE AREA
BUT WILL SEE WHAT THE NEXT FEW HOURS OF MIXING YIELD. WAVE MOVING ONTO
THE NRN BC COAST THIS AFTERNOON WITH DRIVE A WEAK SHORTWAVE RIDGE INTO
THE AREA WHICH SHOULD STABILZE THE AIRMASS OVERNIGHT AND WILL ONLY BE
MENTIONING EVENING SNOW SHOWERS IN THE SOUTHERN ZONES. PATTERN WILL
ALLOW GREAT BASIN PRESSURES TO INCREASE OVERNIGHT ALLOWING SOME
DOWNSLOPE TO DEVELOP AND HELPING MONDAY WARMUP. THE BC COAST WAVE TAKES
A SOUTHEASTWARD TRACK AND BEGINS TO CAUSE HEIGHT FALLS OVER THE AREA
LATE MONDAY INTO MONDAY NIGHT. A BACK DOOR FRONT WORKS INTO EASTERN
MONTANA AND BOTH MODELS ARE DEVELOPING PRECIP ALONG THIS BOUNDARY AND
IN AN AREA OF UPSLOPE AS THE ATMOSPHERE AGAIN BECOMES UNSTABLE. MODELS
KEEP MOISTURE OVER THE AREA FOR TUESDAY AS NORTHERLY FLOW KEEPS THE
BOUNDARY STATIONARY AND SOME UPSLOPE/OROGRAPHIC PRECIP CONTINUES. WITH
LESS DOWNSLOPE TUESDAY WILL BE COOLER. BORSUM

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR WED...THU...FRI...SAT...SUN...
ECMWF/MRF/UKMET HAVE COME INTO AGREEMENT WITH ONE ANOTHER ON LATEST
MODEL RUN. ALL SHOW DEVELOPING AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE ALONG THE WEST
COAST AND AN ELONGATED TROUGH BECOMING THE DOMINANT WEATHER FEATURE
THROUGHOUT THE EXTENDED PERIODS. MRF/UKMET SHOW THE HIGH PRESSURE AREA
THE STRONGEST WHILE ECMWF/MRF CONTINUE TO SHOW A WEAK LOW DEVELOPING
IN THE BASE OF THE TROUGH BY 12Z SAT. EITHER WAY A NORTHERLY FLOW SETS
UP OVER MT FOR CONTINUED UPSLOPE CONDITIONS DURING THE TIME PERIOD PRIOR
THE NEXT SYSTEM OVER-TOPPING RIDGE AND AFFECTING MT SUN. HAVE ADJUSTED
GRIDS FOR TIMING OF SYSTEMS AND INCLUDED A CHANCE OF SNOW DURING
FAVORED UPSLOPE PERIODS...ADJUSTED TEMPERATURES BASED ON TIMING/SNOW
PERIODS FOR WARMER FLOW MOVING IN FROM NW AS RIDGE SLIDES BACK/FORTH
OVER EXTENDED TIME FRAME.  SPRINGER

    MON     TUE     WED     THU     FRI     SAT     SUN
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 020/034 014/027 013/027 010/029 014/032 012/032 011/032
    00/E    43/S    33/S    00/E    00/E    03/S    00/B
LVM 016/033 014/027 009/022 010/026 008/029 009/029 008/029
    33/J    64/S    33/S    00/E    00/E    03/S    00/B
HDN 016/034 010/026 009/025 011/029 013/034 012/033 012/033
    00/E    43/S    33/S    00/E    00/E    03/S    00/B
MLS 017/030 009/022 010/023 009/021 013/029 013/027 013/023
    00/E    22/S    03/S    03/S    30/E    03/S    00/B
4BQ 014/031 012/026 009/026 010/022 012/031 015/031 012/031
    00/E    44/S    33/S    03/S    30/E    03/S    00/B
BHK 014/030 007/018 007/020 007/021 011/027 010/025 011/021
    00/E    22/S    03/S    03/S    30/E    03/S    00/B
SHR 016/034 011/027 009/025 007/025 012/029 013/029 011/029
    40/E    44/S    33/S    03/S    30/E    03/S    00/B

.BYZ...
MT...NONE.
WY...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 2, 5:05 AM MST, 11 hours 25 minutes before

MTZ028>042-056>058-WYZ098-099-031200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
505 AM MST SUN FEB 2 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL...SOUTHEAST
MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING.

.DAY ONE...
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
ADDITIONAL SNOW WILL ACCUMULATE OVER PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA
AND NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING. ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS TODAY SHOULD BE
2 INCHES OR LESS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

WCJIN-WYNW-WYNE
HUMPHREY

In the hours before

Local storm report, Feb 2, 4:01 PM MST, 29 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS, MT
401 PM MST SUN FEB 2 2003

TIME(MST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0345 PM    2.5 N RED LODGE           MT   14 INCH HEAVY SNOW
02/02/03   CARBON

0130 PM    NYE                       MT   14 INCH HEAVY SNOW
02/02/03   STILLWATER

1130 AM    NYE                       MT   10 INCH HEAVY SNOW
02/02/03   STILLWATER

0930 AM    MCLEOD                    MT   8 INCH HEAVY SNOW
02/02/03   SWEET GRASS

0925 AM    12 S LIVINGSTON           MT   8 INCH HEAVY SNOW
02/02/03   PARK

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Stillwater

When: February 2, 4:30 PM MST
Where: Stillwater forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.669, -109.395 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

14 inches of new snow in Nye

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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, February 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: 5341486.