Winter Storm in Montana, May 4 to 5, 2003

Name: Winter Storm in Montana, May 4 to 5, 2003
Start: 2003-05-04T17:00
End: 2003-05-05T08:00
Location: Montana

May 4 to 5, 2003 · NWS TFX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

A winter storm moved through North Central Montana during the evening hours of the 4th, and exited the region by late morning on the 5th. Here is a list of some of the snowfalls reported:12 inches at Goldbutte 7N; 7 inches at Lewistown 22S; 6 inches at Havre 25S; and 4 inches at Havre.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 winter storm moved through North Central Montana during the evening hours of the 4th, and exited the region by late morning on the 5th. Snow generally fell at locations above 4000 feet across the region.Here is a list of some of the snowfalls reported:12 inches at Goldbutte 7N; 7 inches at Lewistown 22S; 6 inches at Havre 25S; and 4 inches at Havre.

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 May 4, 1:45 PM MST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 4, 1:45 PM MST, 3 hours 15 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
245 PM MDT SUN MAY 4 2003

.SHORT TERM...ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN TO PERSIST THROUGH MONDAY
MORNING. LOW PRESSURE OVER THE WESTERN DAKOTAS WILL CONTINUE TO
SLOWLY PUSH WEST OVERNIGHT. A DEFORMATION ZONE HAS SET UP OVER
THE EASTERN PART OF THE FORECAST AREA AND WILL PERSIST THROUGH
MUCH OF THE NIGHT. COOLER AIR CONTINUES TO FILTER INTO THE AREA AND
BY 06Z 850MB TEMPS ARE BELOW ZERO. SNOW ALREADY FALLING AT ABOUT
4000 TO 4500 FEET AND EXPECT SNOW TO MAKE DOWN TO THE PLAINS AROUND
SUNSET. EXPECT QUITE A BIT OF SNOW TO FALL BUT WITH THE WARM
TEMPERATURES AND WARM GROUND GETTING HIGH ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE
HARD. PLAN ON GOING WITH A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR HILL...
FERGUS...BLAINE AND EASTERN CHOUTEAU COUNTIES. WILL CALL AROUND TO IF
ANY SNOW IS ACCUMULATING YET...MAY HAVE TO GO WITH A WARNING IF WE
FIND SIGNIFICANT TOTALS.

PARTIAL CLEARING OVER SOUTHWEST MONTANA THIS AFTERNOON HAS LEAD TO
SOME DESTABILIZATION OVER THE AREA. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL
CONTINUE TO INCREASE OVER THE REGION INTO THE EARLY EVENING.
WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION WILL DEVELOP THIS EVENING AS A SHORT WAVE
TRACKS OVER THE AREA. CURRENTLY A LARGE TEMPERATURE-DEW POINT SPREAD
EXIST AND ONCE THE PRECIPITATION STARTS TEMPERATURES WILL QUICKLY
DROP TO NEAR FREEZING. WILL HAVE RAIN CHANGING TO SNOW OVERNIGHT EVEN
AT THE VALLEY FLOOR. RIGHT NOW IT LOOKS LIKE SNOWFALL AMOUNTS JUST
FALL SHORT OF ADVISORY CRITERIA.

THINGS QUIET DOWN FOR MONDAY. SOME SNOW WILL LINGER INTO THE MORNING
ACROSS THE FAR EASTERN ZONES. CAN EXPECT SOME SCATTERED AFTERNOON
AND EVENING INSTABILITY SHOWERS DUE TO THE COLD AIR ALOFT AND A SHORT
WAVE SLIDING OVER THE REGION. AN UPPER LEVEL LOW MOVES INTO
NORTHWEST MONTANA TUESDAY AFTERNOON FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOWERS.
MODELS HINTING AT ANOTHER COLD PLUNGE ALONG EAST SLOPES LATE TUESDAY
SO CANT RULE OUT THE CHANCE FOR SOME SNOW AROUND THE CUT BANK AREA
AND GLACIER PARK TUESDAY NIGHT. MEIER

.EXTENDED...WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. EXPECT MORE UNSETTLED WEATHER
WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR A SPRING STORM LATE NEXT WEEK INTO THE
WEEKEND SOMEWHERE OVER THE PLAINS. UPPER TROUGH OVER THE PAC NW WILL
SWING THROUGH THE AREA TUE/TUE NIGHT AND BE EAST OF AREA BY
WEDNESDAY. BEST BET FOR DRY WEATHER APPEARS TO BE WED AS AREA WILL
BE IN BETWEEN SYSTEMS. COULD SEE SOME CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY OVER SW MT
THAT DAY. MODELS DIFFER ON TRACK OF NEXT UPPER LOW. GFS HAS BEEN
GOING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN A SOLUTION WITH A TRACK FROM THE PAC NW
ACROSS MT TO ONE WITH A TRACK A LITTLE S OF MT. CMC IS THE FARTHEST
S WHILE ECMWF IS FARTHEST N. LATEST GFS/UKMET FAVOR A TRACK S OF MT.
HAVE RAISED POPS LATE IN THE WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND BUT STILL KEPT
THEM IN THE CHANCE CATEGORY TO LINE UP WITH SURROUNDING OFFICES.
WILL ALSO UNDERCUT GUIDANCE TEMPERATURES FOR SAT. MODELS SEEM TO BE
POINTING TOWARDS DRIER CONDITIONS BY LATE IN THE WEEKEND SO WILL
DROP POPS FOR SUN AND WARM TEMPERATURES. BLANK

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF EE 033/050 030/052 033 12732
    BECRB 056/035 059/037 055/033 048/030 055 33123335551
CTB EE 030/045 029/045 028 12732
    BECCB 052/032 055/035 051/028 046/026 050 33124434441
HLN EB 036/053 032/052 033 12632
    BECCB 060/036 060/039 055/035 050/036 058 33224444441
BZN EB 032/052 028/052 028 12+32
    BECOB 058/032 059/035 055/032 050/034 055 33223445551
WEY EB 027/040 017/040 020 12+42
    BETSB 050/024 050/030 049/025 038/028 042 23333555551
DLN EB 032/048 026/048 028 12632
    BECCB 055/030 057/035 053/031 045/033 049 33224555441
HVR OE 031/048 032/054 032 12+62
    BECRB 058/035 063/038 057/036 052/033 057 32-22335551
LWT EE 030/048 029/051 030 12+42
    BECOB 056/036 058/037 055/035 048/032 053 23122445551

.TFX...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TONIGHT FOR HILL...BLAINE...FERGUS AND
CHOUTEAU COUNTIES.

Hazardous weather outlook, May 4, 5:10 AM MST, 11 hours 50 minutes before

MTZ008>015-044>055-050010-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
610 AM MDT SUN MAY 4 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA

.DAY ONE...TODAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

NO WATCHES, WARNINGS, OR ADVISORIES CURRENTLY IN EFFECT

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

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

Event by event

3 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Fergus

When: May 4, 5:00 PM MST to May 5, 8:00 AM MST
Where: Fergus forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm, Hill

When: May 4, 5:00 PM MST to May 5, 8:00 AM MST
Where: Hill forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm, Toole

When: May 4, 5:00 PM MST to May 5, 8:00 AM MST
Where: Toole forecast zone
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, May 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: 5358280, 5358281, 5358282.