An arctic cold front moved through western Montana and into north central Idaho, producing widespread heavy snow and strong gusty northeast winds. Storm total snowfall ranged from 4 to 9 inches at the lower elevations to 10 to 12 inches in the mountains.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS MSO wrote it up.
An arctic cold front moved through western Montana and into north central Idaho, producing widespread heavy snow and strong gusty northeast winds. Storm total snowfall ranged from 4 to 9 inches at the lower elevations to 10 to 12 inches in the mountains. Strongest wind gusts occurred during the evening hours of January 1st, where gusts between 33 to 53 MPH were recorded between 700 PM to 1030 PM MST.
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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 1, 2:00 AM MST, 6 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
200 AM MST THU JAN 1 2004
.SHORT TERM...THE NEXT IN A SERIES OF WEATHER DISTURBANCES WILL
BEGIN TO MOVE THROUGH THE REGION BY MIDDAY. THE GFS MODEL HAS
INITIALIZED THE BEST THUS WILL FOLLOW THIS SOLUTION. IT IS
ACTUALLY THE FASTER OF THE MODEL SOLUTIONS. A LOT OF MOISTURE IS
ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM...WITH THE MAJORITY OF ENERGY AND
PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS JUST TO THE SOUTH OF THE CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS.
NEVERTHELESS THERE WILL BE ENOUGH SNOWFALL IN CENTRAL IDAHO TO
PRODUCE WINTER STORM WARNING CRITERIA THROUGH LATE FRIDAY MORNING. A
SECONDARY UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL DEVELOP LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS
EVENING IN THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE OF IDAHO AND NORTHWEST MONTANA TO
PRODUCE HEAVY SNOWS THERE...THUS THE WINTER STORM WARNING IN THE
NORTHERN ZONES WILL CONTINUE. AT THIS TIME IT DOES NOT APPEAR THAT
HEAVY SNOW WILL OCCUR IN THE BITTERROOT/MISSOULA VALLEYS OR IN THE
BUTTE/PINTLAR REGION...BUT IT APPEARS SNOWS WILL BE SUFFICIENT...2 TO
5 INCHES DURING TODAY AND TONIGHT...TO WARRANT A WINTER WEATHER
ADVISORY.
.LONG TERM...(FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY) STAYING WITH THE GFS
MODEL...CONSIDERING HOW WELL IT HAS DONE RECENTLY. ALSO OTHER MODELS
ARE STARTING TO FALL IN LINE WITH THE GFS SOLUTION. POLAR VORTEX IN
NORTHERN CANADA ROTATING WAVES INTO NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND
WESTERN MONTANA FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY. COLD ARCTIC AIR MOVES
ACROSS THE DIVIDE ON SATURDAY AS ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE COMES DOWN
INTO CENTRAL MONTANA FROM CANADA. POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR A SIGNIFICANT
SNOW STORM WITH THE CLASSIC ARCTIC IMPACTS THROUGH SUNDAY. WILL
LIKELY HAVE GUSTY NORTHEAST WINDS AND DANGEROUS WIND CHILL
TEMPERATURES LINGERING THROUGH MONDAY AS THE ARCTIC AIR BECOMES
DEEPER ACROSS THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. DEPENDING ON THE AMOUNT OF WIND
SHELTERING AND CLEARING SKIES...TEMPERATURES COULD BE COLDEST OF THE
NEW YEAR ON MONDAY NIGHT GIVEN MODEL PREDICTION OF -20 TO -25 DEGREE
C AT 850MB. THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR ANOTHER PAC SYSTEM TO MOVE ASHORE
EITHER LATE TUESDAY OR WEDNESDAY. THIS COULD PROVIDE ADDITIONAL
OVERRUNNING MOISTURE OVER THE COLD ARCTIC AIR ENTRENCHED ACROSS THE
AREA THEN. WILL SLOWLY MODERATE TEMPERATURES BY WEDNESDAY.
&&
.MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR MTZ001>004-043 FROM THIS AFTERNOON
THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING...
...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR MTZ006 FROM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH
NOON FRIDAY...
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW FOR MTZ005-007 FROM THIS
AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING...
ID...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR IDZ005 FROM THIS AFTERNOON
THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING...
...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR IDZ006 FROM NOON TODAY THROUGH
NOON FRIDAY...
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW FOR IDZ007-008 FROM THIS
AFTERNOON THROUGH NOON FRIDAY...
...WINTER STORM WARNING ABOVE 5500 FEET FOR IDZ009-010 FROM NOON
TODAY THROUGH NOON FRIDAY...
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY BELOW 5500 FEET FOR IDZ009-010 FROM
NOON TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING...
&&
SHORT TERM/RPN
LONG TERM/KOLATAHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 600 AM MST (500 AM PST) THU JAN 1 2004 IDZ005>010-MTZ001>007-043-021300- NORTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS-SOUTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS- OROFINO/GRANGEVILLE REGION-LOWER HELLS CANYON/SALMON RIVER- WESTERN LEMHI COUNTY-EASTERN LEMHI COUNTY-KOOTENAI/CABINET REGION- WEST GLACIER REGION-FLATHEAD/MISSION VALLEYS-LOWER CLARK FORK REGION- MISSOULA/BITTERROOT VALLEYS-BITTERROOT/SAPPHIRE MOUNTAINS- BUTTE/PINTLAR REGION-BLACKFOOT REGION- 600 AM MST (500 AM PST) THU JAN 1 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO .DAY ONE... TODAY NUMEROUS WINTER STORM WARNINGS AND WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT. PLEASE SEE GTFWSWMSO FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY WINTER STORM WARNINGS AND WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDDAY FRIDAY. SEE GTFWSWMSO FOR DETAILS. AN ARCTIC AIR MASS WILL BE SLOWLY DROPPING SOUTHWARD FROM CANADA OVER THE WEEKEND. THE ARCTIC COLD FRONT MAY BEGIN TO PUSH ACROSS THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE SATURDAY NIGHT INTO NORTHWEST MONTANA AND ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO ON SUNDAY. ALTHOUGH THE TIMING IS IN QUESTION...ARCTIC AIR WILL EVENTUALLY MOVE INTO THE AREA BRINGING GUSTY NORTHEAST WINDS AND FALLING TEMPERATURES AND WIND CHILLS BELOW ZERO. CHECK THE FORECAST FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THIS DEVELOPING ARCTIC STORM SYSTEM...ESPECIALLY IF YOU PLAN ON TRAVELING ACROSS WESTERN MONTANA OR NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO THIS WEEKEND. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, January 2004
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: 5382138, 5382139, 5382140.