Winter Storm in Montana, March 6 to 10, 2003

Name: Winter Storm in Montana, March 6 to 10, 2003
Start: 2003-03-06T08:00
End: 2003-03-10T04:00
Location: Montana

March 6 to 10, 2003 · NWS TFX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Heavy snow fell over the entire Rocky Mountain Front from March 6th to March 10th. Snowfall amounts generally ranged from 6 to 10 inches per day.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $15,000
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.

Heavy snow fell over the entire Rocky Mountain Front from March 6th to March 10th. Snowfall amounts generally ranged from 6 to 10 inches per day. However, in a 24 hour period starting at 0400 MST on the 7th, some areas did receive over 2 feet of snow. By the end of the storm, many locations above 5000 feet had received between 3 and 5 feet of snow.The amount of the snowfall over this 5 day period caused a car port to collapse, crushing a vehicle underneath it.Here is a list of some of the snowfalls reported for the total storm:56 inches at East Glacier; 48 inches at Landers Park; 37 inches at Lincoln 6N (SNOTEL); 36 inches at Lincoln; 32 inches at Many Glacier; 26 inches at Pike Creek; and 21 inches at Badger Pass.

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 6, 3:25 AM MST, 4 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 6, 3:25 AM MST, 4 hours 35 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
325 AM MST THU MAR 6 2003

.SHORT TERM...WINTRY PATTERN TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS.
STRONG PACIFIC JET CONTINUES TO STREAM ABUNDANT MOISTURE INTO THE
REGION. PERSISTENT W/NW FLOW ALOFT COMBINED WITH SEVERAL EMBEDDED
UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE HEAVY SNOW OVER THE
WESTERN MOUNTAINS...WITH AREAS OF LIGHT SNOW ACROSS THE VALLEYS AND
PLAINS. AS A RESULT...WILL LEAVE WINTER STORM WARNING OUT FOR THE
WESTERN MOUNTAINS THROUGH FRIDAY. WILL ALSO CONTINUE WINTER WEATHER
ADVISORIES FOR THE REST OF THE AREA. WILL HAVE TO ADD LOCALLY GUSTY
WINDS AND BLOWING SNOW TO THE SOUTHWEST ADVISORY SINCE SOME LOCATIONS
HAVE REPORTED WINDS GUSTS TO 45 MPH. THE SNOW SHOULD TAPER OFF
SOMEWHAT ACROSS THE NORTH LATER TODAY. WITH DYNAMICS WEAKENING A BIT
LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...WILL GO WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW
ACROSS THE PLAINS AND VALLEYS TONIGHT WITH OROGRAPHIC SNOW
CONTINUING TO THE WEST.

ARCTIC BOUNDARY HAS CLEARED A GOOD PORTION OF THE CWA...WITH THE
EXCEPTION OF THE FAR SOUTHWEST. THE COLD AIR HAS MADE IT INTO THE
HELENA VALLEY THIS MORNING AND SHOULD REMAIN IN PLACE. THE BOUNDARY
WILL NOT MOVE TOO MUCH MORE...CAUSING TEMPS TO REMAIN WELL BELOW
NORMAL THROUGH SATURDAY. FURTHER TO THE SOUTH IT APPEARS THERE WILL
NOT BE ENOUGH OF A PUSH TO GET THE ARCTIC AIR THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS
WITH W/NW FLOW ALOFT ACTUALLY BECOMING WESTERLY BY FRIDAY. THE
INCREASING WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL ALSO AIDE IN PRODUCING OVER-
RUNNING SNOW FOR THE PLAINS ON FRIDAY. MOIST FLOW CONTINUES INTO
SATURDAY...BUT THE ARCTIC BOUNDARY MAY START TO RETREAT AS AN UPPER
LEVEL RIDGE TRIES TO BUILD OVER THE AREA.  VILLANI

.EXTENDED...NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO THE EXTENDED FORECAST. GFS AND
ECMWF AGAIN IN FAIRLY DECENT AGREEMENT FOR THE FIRST PART OF THE
EXTENDED PERIOD. FLOW ALOFT BECOMES WESTERLY SUNDAY WITH AN
OVERRUNNING PATTERN FOR THE CWA. AIRMASS BEGINS TO DRY MONDAY THOUGH
ENOUGH INSTABILITY FOR A MENTION OF PRECIPITATION. UPPER RIDGE BEGINS
TO MOVE TOWARD THE AREA TUESDAY WITH THE AXIS SHIFTING OVER THE CWA
WEDNESDAY. DOWNSLOPE SURFACE GRADIENTS WEDNESDAY WILL ALLOW
TEMPERATURES TO RETURN TO SEASONAL AVERAGES.

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF SS 015/902 010/901 018 16756
    CCEEE 004/025 014/030 015/034 021/044 020 63332200000
CTB SS 005/910 904/910 010 16756
    CCEEE 000/020 011/026 012/026 017/040 016 63332200000
HLN SS 024/011 024/012 028 16756
    CCEEE 011/026 018/029 019/030 022/043 021 63334400000
BZN SS 036/021 033/016 031 16756
    CCEEE 008/026 017/031 018/035 021/044 020 63334400000
WEY SS 026/010 027/012 026 16887
    CCNEE 010/022 016/024 020/028 023/038 022 75334423333
DLN SS 038/024 039/023 037 16756
    CSSEE 018/030 022/028 018/032 021/042 020 63335500000
HVR SS 007/908 000/910 000 16655
    CCEEE 902/020 009/026 011/028 016/041 015 63332200000
LWT SS 017/002 013/003 018 16756
    CCEEE 002/025 013/028 016/036 018/043 016 63332200000

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

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 6, 6:30 AM MST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

MTZ008>015-044>055-070110-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
630 AM MST THU MAR 6 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A MOIST WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO CAUSE HEAVY SNOW OVER
THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS. GUSTY WINDS IN SOUTHWEST MONTANA WILL CAUSE
AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW. WINTER STORMS WARNINGS CONTINUE FOR THE ROCKY
MOUNTAIN FRONT AND WESTERN MOUNTAINS OF LEWIS AND CLARK COUNTY.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES CONTINUE FOR NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA THROUGH
THIS MORNING AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. PLEASE
REFER TO GTFWSWTFX FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

A PERSISTENT STORM TRACK AND MOISTURE FEED WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE
HEAVY SNOW ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND WESTERN MOUNTAINS OF
LEWIS AND CLARK COUNTY. THEREFORE THE WINTER STORM WARNING WILL
CONTINUE THROUGH FRIDAY. REFER TO GTFWSWTFX FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

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

Event by event

2 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, North Rocky Mountain Front

When: March 6, 8:00 AM MST to March 10, 4:00 AM MST
Where: North Rocky Mountain Front forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm, Southern Rocky Mountain Front

When: March 6, 8:00 AM MST to March 10, 4:00 AM MST
Where: Southern Rocky Mountain Front forecast zone
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

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: 5345033, 5345034.