Heavy Snow in Montana, March 7, 2003

Name: Heavy Snow in Montana, March 7, 2003
Start: 2003-03-07T19:45
End: 2003-03-07T19:45
Location: Montana

March 7, 2003 · NWS BYZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 heavy snow, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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 7, 3:04 PM MST, 4 hours 41 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 7, 3:04 PM MST, 4 hours 41 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
304 PM MST FRI MAR 7 2003

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR SAT AND SUN...

TONIGHT...HEAVY SNOW BANDS CONTINUE FROM WHEATLAND COUNTY EAST INTO
FALLON COUNTY. MODELS CONTINUE TO NOT HANDLE CURRENT SITUATION WELL AT
ALL. STRONG JET ENERGY AND WAVE CURRENTLY MOVING INTO NORTHERN IDAHO.
IN ADDITION...PRESSURE FALLS CONTINUE ACROSS SOUTHWEST MONTANA AS A
FAIRLY STRONG SURFACE LOW DEVELOPS IN THAT LOCATION WITH A SECOND AREA
OF LOW PRESSURE CURRENTLY OVER NORTHEAST WYOMING. BELIEVE THE WYOMING
LOW HAS ALLOWED THE ARCTIC AIR TO DEEPEN OVER THE NORTHERN AND EASTERN
ZONES. THE DEEPENING ARCTIC...AS WELL AS PLENTY OF PACIFIC MOISTURE
OVER-RUNNING IT WILL RESULT IN CONTINUED HEAVY SNOW BANDS IN THOSE
LOCATIONS. TO COMPOUND THE SITUATION...NORTHEAST WINDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH
WILL CAUSE AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. HAVE HAD REPORTS OF 4
FOOT DRIFTS ACROSS PORTIONS OF NORTHERN ROSEBUD COUNTY THIS AFTERNOON.
CURRENT WINTER STORM WARNING FOR NORTHERN ZONES AND PARTS OF EASTERN
ZONES WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT.

NEXT QUESTION IS WHEN AND IF THE ARCTIC BOUNDARY WILL SHIFT SOUTH.
AS SURFACE LOW OVER EASTERN IDAHO/SOUTHWEST MONTANA CONTINUES TO RIDE
SOUTHEAST ALONG THE BOUNDARY...BELIEVE THE DEEPER ARCTIC WILL BE PULLED
SOUTHWARD. CURRENT THINKING IS THAT THE AREA OF SNOW ACROSS THE
NORTHERN ZONES WILL SLOWLY BEGIN TO SINK SOUTH TOWARDS BILLINGS AND
POINTS SOUTH AND WEST. RADAR BEGINNING TO FILL IN JUST TO THE NORTH AND
WEST OF BILLINGS AND THIS COULD BE A SIGN THAT THE BOUNDARY IS
BEGINNING TO MOVE SOUTH. WILL CONTINUE WITH CURRENT WARNINGS AND
ADVISORIES THROUGH TONIGHT.

SATURDAY & SUNDAY...ARCTIC AIRMASS WILL STILL BE IN PLACE AS PACIFIC
MOISTURE CONTINUES TO OVERRUN IT...MAINLY ON SATURDAY. THIS WILL RESULT
IN MORNING SNOW LIKELY ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS WITH A CHANCE
ELSEWHERE THROUGHOUT THE DAY SATURDAY. DAYTIME HIGHS SATURDAY WILL
STRUGGLE TO MAKE IT INTO THE MID TEENS. ARCTIC BEGINS TO SLOWLY MOVE
OUT SUNDAY WITH A CONTINUED CHANCE FOR SNOW SHOWERS. TEMPERATURES WILL
FEEL MUCH WARMER THAN SATURDAY BUT STILL BARELY APPROACH THE FREEZING
MARK FROM BILLINGS WESTWARD...WITH UPPER TEENS AND 20S IN THE FAR
EASTERN ZONES. HOOLEY

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR MON...TUE...WED...THU...FRI...
ARCTIC BOUNDARY TO BEGIN TO MOVE EAST SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY...THOUGH
SHORTWAVE ENERGY TRAVELING ALONG THIS BOUNDARY WILL KEEP CHANCE FOR
PRECIP IN THE FORECAST INTO EARLY MONDAY MORNING. NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT
REMAINS OVER THE AREA THROUGH TUESDAY...AND MODELS CONTINUING TO BRING
A WEAK REINFORCEMENT OF COLD AIR INTO THE EASTERN ZONES. THIS COMBINED
WITH SNOW COVER WILL RESULT IN TEMPS TUESDAY MUCH COOLER THAN GUIDANCE.
UPPER RIDGE BUILDS IN BEGINNING WEDNESDAY WITH ADVERTISED WARMUP TAKING
PLACE THROUGH THE END OF THE EXTENDED. GOING EXTENDED FORECAST LOOKS
GOOD SO WILL ONLY BE MAKING SOME MINOR CHANGES THIS PACKAGE. MACZKO

    SAT     SUN     MON     TUE     WED     THU     FRI
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 002/013 008/031 017/032 018/037 026/044 030/048 030/052
    +4/S    33/J    33/J    30/E    00/B    00/B    00/B
LVM 000/016 010/034 017/036 017/041 026/047 030/051 030/055
    +6/S    43/J    33/J    30/E    00/B    00/B    00/B
HDN 002/014 009/029 016/032 017/036 025/045 029/049 029/053
    +4/S    33/J    33/J    30/E    00/B    00/B    00/B
MLS 902/009 904/018 015/027 017/029 021/042 025/046 025/050
    +3/S    33/J    33/J    30/E    00/B    00/B    00/B
4BQ 005/015 005/025 020/030 020/032 023/045 027/049 027/053
    83/S    33/J    33/J    30/E    00/B    00/B    00/B
BHK 902/006 910/016 013/025 015/027 018/040 024/044 024/048
    +3/S    33/J    33/J    30/E    00/B    00/B    00/B
SHR 004/015 009/030 019/033 020/037 024/045 028/049 028/053
    84/S    33/J    33/J    30/E    00/B    00/B    00/B

.BYZ...
MT...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT FOR ZONES MTZ028>033...MTZ042.

MT...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT FOR ZONES MTZ034...MTZ040>041...
MTZ056.

MT...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW TONIGHT FOR ZONES MTZ035...MTZ057.

WY...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 7, 11:16 AM MST, 8 hours 29 minutes before

MTZ028>042-056>058-WYZ098-099-080015-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
1116 AM MST FRI MAR 7 2003

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

.DAY ONE...
HEAVY SNOW WARNINGS AND WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR
PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FOR TODAY AND
TONIGHT. REFER TO GTFWSWBYZ FOR DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.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, Custer

When: March 7, 7:45 PM MST
Where: Custer forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.253, -105.572 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

8 inches of snow 4 miles east of Miles City

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

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: 5345802.