High Wind in Montana, September 25, 2003

Name: High Wind in Montana, September 25, 2003
Start: 2003-09-25T10:00
End: 2003-09-25T11:00
Location: Montana

September 25, 2003 · NWS TFX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A high wind gust of 58 mph occurred at McDonald Pass at 1045 MST, with sustained winds near 50 mph from 1000 to 1100 MST.

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 happened

The episode as NWS TFX wrote it up.

A high wind gust of 58 mph occurred at McDonald Pass at 1045 MST, with sustained winds near 50 mph from 1000 to 1100 MST.

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 Sep 25, 8:00 AM MST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 25, 8:00 AM MST, 2 hours before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
900 AM MDT THU SEP 25 2003

UPDATES PLANNED FOR THE ZONES

.DISCUSSION...

TODAY AND FRIDAY...WILL ONLY BE MODIFYING A FEW CLOUD FORECASTS FOR
TODAY OTHERWISE FORECAST LOOKS IN GOOD SHAPE. LATEST ETA RUN IS A
LITTLE FASTER WITH A VORTICITY CENTER ZIPPING DOWN FRONT SIDE OF
RIDGE FROM ALTA THROUGH SW SASK INTO NE MT TNGT/FRI. IN LINE WITH
THIS LASTEST RUN IS FASTER WITH A WEAK REFLECTION OF A SURFACE FRONT
AND NOW MOVES IT THROUGH THE PLAINS LATER TONIGHT. PREVIOUS RUN HAD
SOME QPF FOR CENTRAL MT FOR FRI BUT LATEST RUN HAS REMOVED IT.
CURRENT FORECAST FOR THAT TIME AND AREA WAS DRY ANYHOW. BLANK

SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY...UPPER RIDGE CONTINUES TO BE THE DOMINATE
FACTOR WITH WARM TEMPERATURES. SUNDAY NIGHT HAS MOISTURE AND A
SHORTWAVE MOVING OVER THE TOP OF PACIFIC UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BRINGING
CLOUDS TO NORTHERN ZONES. WILL INTRODUCE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF
PRECIPITATION FOR SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING AS UPSLOPE
CONDITIONS WITH COOLER TEMPERATURES MOVE OVER NORTHCENTRAL MONTANA.

MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...ECMWF AND GFS BEGIN TO DIFFER QUITE
A BIT. THE GFS BRINGS A TROUGH AND COLD FRONT INTO THE STATE WHILE
THE ECMWF KEEPS WEAK RIDGING OVER THE AREA. WILL NOT GO WITH THE NEW
GFS COMPLETELY.. WILL INTRODUCE COOLER TEMPERATURES AND MORE CLOUDS.
WILL CONTINUE DRY FORECAST AT THIS TIME. CAMP

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF BB 079/044 068/036 067 05000
    UBBBB 035/064 035/062 032/063 036/066 035 00000220000
CTB BU 075/043 065/035 061 05000
    BBBBB 033/061 034/060 030/059 033/063 033 00000220000
HLN BB 081/046 073/042 070 05000
    UBBBB 037/070 035/069 037/069 041/068 040 00000000000
BZN BB 079/042 075/032 071 05000
    UUBBB 034/069 035/069 035/070 038/068 038 00000000000
WEY BB 072/038 070/025 059 05000
    UUBBB 029/060 038/060 031/065 034/062 034 00000000000
DLN BB 080/046 076/038 072 05000
    UUBBB 038/070 040/070 040/073 043/070 043 00000000000
HVR BB 078/042 069/036 067 05000
    UBBBB 033/060 034/058 031/059 033/062 034 00000110000
LWT BN 076/042 066/035 063 05000
    UBBBB 033/061 033/060 030/056 033/060 033 00000000000

.TFX...RED FLAG WARNING THURSDAY FOR ZONES 112 THROUGH 118.

Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 25, 4:45 AM MST, 5 hours 15 minutes before

MTZ008>015-044>055-260010-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
545 AM MDT THU SEP 25 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA

.DAY ONE...TODAY

GUSTY WEST SURFACE WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH WITH SOME GUSTS TO 40
MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE TODAY. AS A RESULT...A RED FLAG WARNING HAS BEEN
ISSUED FOR NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA. PLEASE REFER TO GTFRFWTFX FOR MORE
INFORMATION. A FIRE WEATHER WATCH FOR STRONG WESTERLY WINDS AND LOW
RELATIVE HUMIDITIES IS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHWEST MONTANA. PLEASE REFER
TO GTFRFWMSO FOR MORE INFORMATION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

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

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Southern Lewis and Clark

When: September 25, 10:00 AM MST to 11:00 AM MST
Where: Southern Lewis and Clark forecast zone
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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, September 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: 5337105.