Name: Heavy Snow in Montana, March 18, 2003
Start: 2003-03-18T16:00
End: 2003-03-18T16:00
Location: Montana

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 Mar 18, 3:10 PM MST, 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 18, 3:10 PM MST, 50 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 18, 5:18 AM MST, 10 hours 42 minutes before

MTZ028>042-056>058-WYZ098-099-191200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
518 AM MST TUE MAR 18 2003

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

.DAY ONE...
SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN
MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING TODAY INTO TONIGHT. REFER TO
GTFWSWBYZ FOR FURTHER DETAILS. ALSO...RIVERS AND CREEKS ACROSS
SOUTHEASTERN MONTANA ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THEIR SLOW RISE AS THE
SNOW CONTINUES ACROSS THE AREA.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
SNOW WILL BE TAPERING OFF DURING WEDNESDAY. SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATING
SNOW IS NOT EXPECTED.

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

WCJIN-WYNW-WYNE

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: March 18, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Stillwater forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.669, -109.395 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

10 inches of snow at Mystic Lake

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

More

Every storm in Montana in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, March 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5345485.