1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 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 Jan 19, 8:45 PM MST, 1 hour 36 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
845 PM MST SUN JAN 19 2003
WILL UPDATE ZONES AND STATE FORECAST
.SHORT TERM...BAND OF PRECIPITATION DEVELOPED EARLIER THIS EVENING IN
AN AREA OF MID LEVEL CONVERGENCE. DID A QUICK UPDATE TO ACCOUNT FOR
THE PRECIPITATION AND WINDS THAT ARE CURRENTLY LIGHTER THAN FORECAST
OVER THE PLAINS. THE SURFACE LOW PRESSURE TROUGH IS STRETCHING FROM
SOUTHEAST MONTANA INTO WEST CENTRAL ALBERTA. TO THE NORTHEAST OF THIS
TROUGH...ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE IS DRIFTING SOUTHEAST. ARCTIC AIR IS
BEGINNING TO FILTER INTO THE NORTHEAST PORTION OF MY CWA...WELL AHEAD
OF EARLIER FORECAST TIMING. IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE...THE WATER VAPOR
LOOP SHOWS VORTICITY OVER SOUTHEAST ALASKA AND AROUND 40N 140W. THIS
LINES UP WELL WITH MODELS...HOWEVER THE MODELS ALSO SHOW VORTICITY
OVER VANCOUVER ISLAND AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA WHICH I AM UNABLE TO
DIFFERENTIATE. THE SOUTHEAST ALASKA VORTICITY LOBE IS ELONGATED BY A
VIGOROUS UPPER JET...AND MOVES OVER MONTANA MONDAY. DIFFERENTIAL
PRESSURE FALLS AHEAD OF THIS FEATURE WILL DRAW THE ARCTIC HIGH
SOUTHWARD THROUGH THE STATE BY AFTERNOON. MESO-ETA HAS BEEN
CONSISTENT BRINGING A BAND OF PRECIPITATION THROUGH NORTHEAST MONTANA
ON MONDAY...SO WILL UPDATE MONDAY FORECAST OVER MY EASTERN ZONES TO
PUT POPS MORE IN LINE WITH GGW FORECAST. FOR TONIGHT WILL RE-TWEAK
PRECIPITATION FORECAST TO ACCOUNT FOR BAND OF PRECIPITATION SHIFTING
TO THE NORTHEAST...AND WILL ALSO TWEAK HAVRE TEMPERATURE DOWN SINCE
COLDER AIR HAS MOVED IN. FINALLY...BASED UPON SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS
WILL UPDATE SKY CONDITION IN SOUTHWEST MONTANA TO PARTLY CLOUDY. MPJ
.EXTENDED...EXTENDED FORECAST STARTS OUT WITH STRONG DOWNSLOPE WINDS
DEVELOPING OVER THE FRONT RANGE OF THE ROCKIES EARLY ON THURSDAY
MORNING. THE COLD AIR THAT WAS IN PLACE WILL SLOWLY RETREAT TOWARDS
THE NORTHEAST SECTION OF THE CWA. AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE AND
SURFACE LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE THROUGH CENTRAL MONTANA DURING THE DAY
ON THURSDAY. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR A GOOD CHANCE FOR SNOW OVER THE
NORTH...WITH RAIN AND SNOW LIKELY OVER THE SOUTH. AREAS RIGHT ON THE
BOUNDARY OF THE COLD AND WARMER AIR WILL HAVE THE HIGHEST CHANCES FOR
PRECIPITATION...AND THAT WILL BE MAINLY EAST OF A LINE FROM HAVRE TO
LEWISTOWN. FOR FRIDAY...EXPECT GUSTY WINDS OVER MUCH OF THE NORTH. A
FEW UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES ARE PROGGED TO MOVE THROUGH...BUT
DOWNSLOPE WINDS SHOULD KEEP THINGS DRY. FOR SATURDAY AND SUNDAY...THE
UPPER LEVEL RIDGE SLOWLY REBUILDS OVER NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA. EXPECT
MOSTLY DRY CONDITIONS ACROSS THE REGION...ALONG WITH A RETURN TO VERY
MILD AIR OVER NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA...AND SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL
TEMPERATURES LIKELY IN THE SOUTH. GUSTY WEST WINDS ARE LIKELY OVER
THE NORTH ON SUNDAY AS WELL. BRUSDA
.CCF NUMBERS
GTF CC 032/036 012/020 006 07024
SSEEE 022/020 034/022 040/026 041/029 043 43366300000
CTB CC 030/032 006/015 000 07023
SSEEE 018/017 030/020 038/023 039/026 042 43366300000
HLN CC 024/035 020/025 014 07023
SOEEE 022/017 034/023 036/022 037/023 039 43366300000
BZN CC 016/030 010/022 015 07023
SOEEE 024/015 036/020 035/019 036/021 037 43366300000
WEY CS 012/025 005/020 010 07024
SOEEE 020/009 027/012 029/012 030/016 031 53366330000
DLN CC 021/033 012/025 018 07013
SOEEE 030/023 034/023 038/022 040/025 040 43366300000
HVR CC 019/028 002/010 905 07243
SSEEE 008/002 023/007 030/013 032/019 038 43366300000
LWT CC 024/034 010/018 000 07344
SSEEE 015/009 026/012 037/017 039/021 040 43366300000
TFX...NONE.MTZ008>015-044>055-200110- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 635 AM MST SUN JAN 19 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA .DAY ONE...TODAY ...HIGH WIND WARNING CONTINUES THROUGH THIS MORNING... FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT WEST WINDS 30 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH ARE EXPECTED. REFER TO GTFNPWTFX FOR FURTHER DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY 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.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong winds developed over the northern Rocky Mountain Front during the afternoon hours on the 19th. Sustained winds over 40 mph and wind gusts to near 60 mph were common near the U.S. and Canadian border.
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, January 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: 5338216.