Blizzard in Montana, March 5 to 6, 2003

Name: Blizzard in Montana, March 5 to 6, 2003
Start: 2003-03-05T16:00
End: 2003-03-06T08:00
Location: Montana

March 5 to 6, 2003 · NWS TFX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A blizzard occurred over the entire Rocky Mountain Front on March 5th. Sustained winds near 35 mph, along with heavy snow fell from East Glacier south to Lincoln.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 happened

The episode as NWS TFX wrote it up.

A blizzard occurred over the entire Rocky Mountain Front on March 5th. Sustained winds near 35 mph, along with heavy snow fell from East Glacier south to Lincoln. Significant blowing and drifting of the snow occurred. One to two feet of snowfall was common over the Rocky Mountain Front in a 24 hour period ending by the early morning hours on the 6th. Here is a list of some of the snowfalls reported:24 inches at Babb 10W and East Glacier Park 10SW; 18 inches at Lincoln 6N; 14 inches at Lincoln; 13 inches at Bynum 24W; and 12 inches at Pendroy 20W and St. Mary.

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 Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 5, 2:15 PM MST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 5, 2:15 PM MST, 1 hour 45 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
215 PM MST WED MAR 5 2003

.SHORT TERM...LOW PRESSURE CENTER REMAINS OVER HUDSON BAY WITH HIGH
PRESSURE OVER EASTERN PACIFIC. THIS LEAVES THE ZONES UNDER NORTHWEST
FLOW ALOFT...STRONG FLOW WHICH SLOWLY BECOMES MORE WESTERLY. THE
STRONG WEST FLOW ALONG WITH SEVERAL UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES WILL
KEEP HEAVY SNOW WEST AND ALONG THE DIVIDE THROUGH FRIDAY. A COLD
FRONT TO THE NORTH WILL CAUSE SNOW ACROSS THE AREA...COLDFRONT IS
THROUGH CTB AND SHOULD BE INTO GTF 4-5PM.  WILL HAVE AT LEAST LIKELY
POPS ACROSS ENTIRE CWA...BLIZZARD WARNING OVER THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS
AND WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY ELSEWHERE. WEST FLOW ALOFT WILL KEEP
WESTERN MOUNTAINS UNDER SNOW...AT LEAST A CHANCE ELSEWHERE THROUGH
FRIDAY. TEMPS STAY COLD ALTHOUGH AIRMASS BEGINS TO WARM SLIGHTLY
SATURDAY. ZELZER

.EXTENDED...STRONGER UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OVER AREA ON SUNDAY THAN
PREVIOUS RUNS. MODELS IN GENERAL AGREEMENT UNTIL MONDAY. WILL STAY
WITH GFS GUIDANCE. RIDGE FLATTENS ON MONDAY WITH ANOTHER SURFACE
FRONT TO MOVE DOWN THE EAST SLOPES OF THE ROCKIES. UPPER LEVEL RIDGE
TRIES TO REBOUND WITH SURFACE TROUGH SETTING UP ALONG EAST SLOPE OF
THE ROCKIES. WILL WARM TEMPERATURES UP SLIGHTLY BUT KEEP THEM BELOW
GUIDANCE. MODELS HINT AT YET ANOTHER COLD FRONT TO MOVE TO THE NORTH
OF US ON WEDNESDAY. OVER-RUNNING ON SUNDAY ENDING ON MONDAY AND WILL
KEEP SCT POPS IN. WILL GO DRY FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY.

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF SS 010/018 002/012 905 13965
    CCEEC 018/004 025/012 032/015 032/020 042 5534444-000
CTB SS 902/003 910/904 914 13865
    CCEEN 010/000 020/008 026/012 026/016 038 5533344-000
HLN SS 018/030 015/024 012 13876
    ECEEC 028/011 025/018 029/019 029/021 041 5544444-000
BZN SS 016/032 017/031 012 13877
    ECEEC 031/008 026/017 031/018 031/020 042 6644444-000
WEY SS 010/025 010/027 012 13888
    SSEEC 026/010 022/016 024/020 024/022 036 66566442000
DLN SS 022/035 022/036 015 13677
    ECEEC 037/018 030/022 028/018 028/020 040 6644444-000
HVR SC 904/004 908/000 916 13855
    CCEEN 000/902 020/008 028/011 028/015 043 4433344-000
LWT SC 010/018 005/015 000 13965
    CCEEC 018/002 020/012 030/016 030/020 041 4434444-000

.TFX...WINTER WEATHER WARNING TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY FOR THE
       ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS IN
       LEWIS AND CLARK COUNTY
    ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING FOR
       NORTH AND CENTRAL ZONES
    ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY FOR
       SOUTHWEST MONTANA ZONES

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 5, 6:30 AM MST, 9 hours 30 minutes before

MTZ008>015-044>055-060110-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
630 AM MST WED MAR 5 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN MONTANA
TODAY AND TONIGHT. STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY SNOW...AND BLOWING
SNOW WILL CAUSE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS. THEREFORE A BLIZZARD WARNING
HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND THE WESTERN
MOUNTAINS OF LEWIS AND CLARK COUNTY. PLEASE REFER TO GTFWSWTFX FOR
FURTHER DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

A PERSISTENT STORM TRACK AND A MOIST NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL
CONTINUE ACROSS THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY.
ACCUMULATING SNOW WILL LIKELY FALL OVER THE MOUNTAINS...WITH THE
POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY SNOW. HOWEVER...THERE IS UNCERTAINTY AS TO
EXACTLY HOW MUCH SNOW WILL FALL AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

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

Event by event

2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.

Blizzard, North Rocky Mountain Front

When: March 5, 4:00 PM MST to March 6, 8:00 AM MST
Where: North Rocky Mountain Front forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Blizzard, Southern Rocky Mountain Front

When: March 5, 4:00 PM MST to March 6, 8:00 AM MST
Where: Southern Rocky Mountain Front forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

Blizzard: Sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph or more with falling or blowing snow that cuts visibility below a quarter mile for three hours or longer.

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, 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5345028, 5345029.