Avalanche in Montana, March 9, 2003

Name: Avalanche in Montana, March 9, 2003
Start: 2003-03-09T00:00
End: 2003-03-09T00:00
Location: Montana

March 9, 2003 · NWS BYZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 avalanche, 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 8, 9:07 PM MST, 2 hours 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 8, 9:07 PM MST, 2 hours 53 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
907 PM MST SAT MAR 8 2003

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR SUN AND MON...
UPDATES FORTHCOMING.

WILL EXTEND THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THROUGH TONIGHT OVER THE SAME
AREA. A BAND OF PERSISTENT SNOW YET AFFECTS MOST OF THE COUNTIES IN
THE ADVISORY.

TEMPERATURES ALSO NEEDED SOME ADJUSTMENTS DOWN AND HAVE MADE THEM.

AM NOT PLANNING TO ISSUE A WIND CHILL ADVISORY AT THIS TIME...ALTHOUGH
INDICES IN A FEW PLACES ARE BELOW MINUS 20 DEGREES. WINDS...HOWEVER...
ARE LIGHT AND AM EXPECTING THAT TO BE THE CASE OVER MOST PLACES. CHB

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR TUE...WED...THU...FRI...SAT...

GFS/ECMWF WERE IN AGREEMENT IN DEPICTING A FLAT NW FLOW OVER THE
REGION EARLY IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD FOLLOWED BY AN UPPER RIDGE FOR
WED AND THU. SW FLOW WILL OVERTAKE THE AREA FRI AND SAT. MODELS
CONTINUED TO SHOW A WEAK FRONT NEAR NE ZONES TUE AND TUE NIGHT. WILL
LEAVE FORECAST DRY ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH SAT EXCEPT FOR CHANCE OF
UPSLOPE SNOW SHOWERS IN HIGH ELEVATIONS EARLY IN THE PERIOD. RAISED
TEMPS SEVERAL DEGREES FOR WED AND THU DUE TO DOWNSLOPE FLOW AND PROGGED
850 MB TEMPS BETWEEN 5 AND 10 DEG C. ALSO MODIFIED WINDS MIDWEEK TO
REFLECT LEE TROUGH PATTERN. ARTHUR

    SUN     MON     TUE     WED     THU     FRI     SAT
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 909/022 016/038 018/040 026/049 030/052 034/052 034/052
    86/S    32/J    00/E    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B
LVM 904/025 019/040 017/042 026/052 030/055 034/055 034/055
    46/S    32/J    00/E    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B
HDN 909/020 014/037 017/039 025/050 029/053 033/053 033/053
    86/S    32/J    00/E    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B
MLS 912/012 006/030 017/030 021/047 025/050 029/050 029/050
    44/S    32/J    00/E    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B
4BQ 905/020 014/034 020/034 023/050 027/053 031/053 031/053
    74/S    32/J    00/E    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B
BHK 916/012 006/028 015/028 018/045 024/048 028/048 028/048
    43/S    32/J    00/E    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B
SHR 903/021 015/038 020/040 024/050 028/053 032/053 032/053
    44/S    32/J    00/E    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B

.BYZ...
MT...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONES MTZ029>031...
.MTZ035...MTZ038...MTZ057>058.

WY...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 8, 9:38 PM MST, 2 hours 22 minutes before

MTZ028>042-056>058-WYZ098-099-091200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
938 PM MST SAT MAR 8 2003

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

.DAY ONE...
A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW IS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTH CENTRAL
MONTANA TONIGHT WITH ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 4 INCHES
POSSIBLE.

.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 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.

Avalanche, Park

When: March 9, 12:00 AM MST
Where: Park forecast zone
Reported by: PARK/FOREST SERVICE
Coordinates: 45.488, -110.526 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A snowmobiler was tragically killed in an avalanche on the flanks of Mount Abundance in the mountains north of Cooke City. The slide path was small, only 200 feet wide by 250 feet vertical, yet it broke 2-3 feet deep on the ice crust and facets. A rider got stuck and then two friends rode up to help him, which triggered the slide. It was triggered on a slope 30-33 degrees, but the terrain steepened above them with an average angle of 37 degrees before finally reaching into the low 40s near the windloaded ridgetop. Two people were buried, but one was able to clear snow from his face. A beacon search found the victim within 15 minutes, and even though his head was only two feet from the surface, his friends were unable to revive him.

What these are

Avalanche: A mass of snow sliding down a mountainside that caused a death, an injury or damage.

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: 5345594.