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 23, 3:00 AM MST, 4 hours 40 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
300 AM MST THU JAN 23 2003
.SHORT TERM...MOST OF THE FOCUS FOR THIS PACKAGE IS ON THE LOCATION
OF THE ARCTIC BOUNDARY OVER THE NEXT 60 HOURS. MOVEMENT OF BOUNDARY
WILL CAUSE TEMPS TO RIDE A ROLLER COASTER THAT WILL WREAK HAVOC ON
NORMAL DIURNAL TRENDS OVER THE PLAINS ZONES. CONSIDER THAT IN
NORTHEAST ZONES...THE WARMEST TEMPS BETWEEN NOW AND SATURDAY WILL
LIKELY OCCUR EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. EXTRAPOLATION OF LAST 2 SOUNDINGS
AT GTF INDICATES DEPTH OF ARCTIC AIR WILL BE ZERO BY NOON. SO THIS
FORECAST CALLS FOR ARCTIC AIR TO BE ELIMINATED AT LEWISTOWN THIS
MORNING...GREAT FALLS AROUND NOON...AND CUT BANK DURING THE LATE
AFTERNOON. WARM AIR WILL INVADE LIBERTY/HILL/BLAINE/NORTHERN FERGUS
COUNTIES AFTER SUNSET. WHEN THIS OCCURS...TEMPS SHOULD MAKE IT INTO
THE 30S. CONCURRENT WITH THE CHINOOK WILL BE STRONG WINDS. WILL ISSUE
HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE NORTHWEST ZONES. WILL ALSO THROW A BLOWING
SNOW ADVISORY ON TOP OF THIS FOR THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT. WILL LET
EXISTING WINTER STORM WARNING DIE...ATHOUGH CONDITIONS ALONG THE
FRONT WILL STILL BE NASTY. PRECIP TODAY WILL BE LIMITED TO SOME
OVERRUNNING SNOW WHERE THE ARCTIC IS THICKEST (NORTHEAST ZONES) AND
SOME INSTABILITY SHOWERS IN THE SOUTHWEST.
RIDGE BUILDS IN TONIGHT AND FRIDAY FOR DRIER WEATHER...BUT THEN
ARCTIC BOUNDARY MAKES A RETURN TO CWA FRIDAY MORNING. COLD AIR SHOULD
AFFECT ALL OF THE PLAINS ZONES BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON...SO LISTED HIGH
TEMPS WILL BE EARLY IN THE DAY AT GREAT FALLS AND LEWISTOWN. ARCTIC
WILL STICK AROUND THROUGH SATURDAY WHEN ANOTHER EPISODE OF
OVERRUNNING IS POSSIBLE BEGINNING FRIDAY NIGHT. POMEROY
.EXTENDED...GFS/UKMET/ECMWF ARE ALL IN GOOD AGREEMENT ON GENERAL
TRENDS. FLATTENING UPPER RIDGE IS FORECAST TO MOVE OVER THE AREA ON
SUNDAY FOR DRY CONDITIONS EXCEPT FOR POSSIBLY THE WRN MOUNTAINS.
MON/MON NIGHT A LOW AMPLITUDE SHORTWAVE IS FORECAST TO MOVE THROUGH
THE AREA. ALTHOUGH EXPECT SOME SNOW OVER THE MOUNTAINS DOWNSLOPE
SHOULD KEEP THE PLAINS DRY. ANTICYCLONIC NW FLOW IS FORECAST FOR TUE
WITH DRY CONDITIONS. UPPER RIDGE IS FORECAST FOR WED FOR CONTINUED
DRY WEATHER. MAIN CHANGE TO FORECAST WILL BE FOR SAT NIGHT. UPPER
RIDGE OVER THE PAC NW PUSHING E SHOULD RESULT IN A WARM FRONT MOVING
NE OVER THE AREA. ERN ZONES COULD STAY IN COLD AIR THROUGH THE NIGHT.
CURRENT FORECAST HAS NO MENTION OF PRECIPITATION BUT WITH MOIST NW
FLOW CAN NOT RULE OUT SOME LIGHT SNOW. WILL RAISE POPS TO AGREE WITH
BIL/GGW OFFICES. FORECAST LOWS FROM WEDNESDAY AFTERNOONS ZONE PACKAGE
FOR SAT NIGHT ARE WARMER THAN LATEST THINKING FOR HIGHS ON SAT SO
WILL KNOCK LOWS DOWN 5 TO 15 DEGREES. BLANK
.CCF NUMBERS
GTF EE 036/031 039/014 025 19200
EENEE 022/049 030/044 023/043 024/044 037 332000-0003
CTB EC 036/010 020/005 017 19200
ENNEE 013/049 028/040 020/038 020/038 035 332000-0003
HLN CE 032/018 041/023 035 19400
EEEEE 023/042 025/037 022/042 022/040 035 3320---0005
BZN JE 025/017 036/019 031 19600
EEEEE 017/039 022/038 017/037 017/038 035 34201110006
WEY JE 033/007 030/010 024 19722
SEEEE 010/024 013/034 013/029 012/030 027 56303310006
DLN CE 038/020 038/021 038 19400
EEEEE 024/042 025/037 016/038 022/037 032 34201110008
HVR CE 012/004 014/902 006 19300
ENNEE 000/045 018/040 018/035 016/036 030 33200010003
LWT CE 034/031 039/016 024 19200
ENEEE 018/047 020/044 023/041 020/039 033 44200010003
TFX...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TODAY FOR BLOWING SNOWING FOR THE
ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT
HIGH WIND WARNING TODAY FOR ZONES THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND
ALL OF GLACIER COUNTY.MTZ008>015-044>055-240110- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 620 AM MST THU JAN 23 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA .DAY ONE...TODAY THERE IS A HIGH WIND WARNING FOR LATE THIS MORNING THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON FOR THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND GLACIER COUNTY. REFER TO GTFNPWTFX FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. THERE IS A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW FOR LATE THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON FOR THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT. REFER TO GTFWSWTFX FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY 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 early morning hours of the 23rd. Sustained winds over 40 mph and wind gusts to near 60 mph were common over the region. East Glacier 2E had sustained winds of 44 mph at 0740 MST.
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: 5339779.