Strong gradient wind in the wake of a cold front occurred during the afternoon and evening hours of the 11th. There were numerous reports of sustained wind speeds of 40 to 50 mph with wind gusts as high as 62 mph.
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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 GGW wrote it up.
Strong gradient wind in the wake of a cold front occurred during the afternoon and evening hours of the 11th. There were numerous reports of sustained wind speeds of 40 to 50 mph with wind gusts as high as 62 mph. A few of the stronger wind reports included:50 mph sustained winds 13 miles east-northeast of Plentywood, 60 mph wind gusts at Fort Peck, 60 mph wind gusts 35 miles south of Malta, and 62 mph wind gusts at Whitewater.
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 Glasgow, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 11, 9:13 AM MST, 2 hours 22 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 913 AM MST SAT DEC 11 2004 ...HIGH WIND WARNING TODAY THROUGH THIS EVENING... .FORECAST DISCUSSION...FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA... THE MAIN WEATHER CONCERN TODAY WILL BE THE WIND. LOW PRESSURE NEAR SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN WILL CONTINUE TO SLIDE EAST AND DEEPEN TODAY. THE WARM FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOW HAS PUSHED INTO OUR EASTERN ZONES...NOT FAR FROM THE THE MT/ND BORDER. THE ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT IS ORGANIZING BACK ACROSS SOUTHWEST SASKATCHEWAN AND SOUTHERN ALBERTA. THE 12Z KGGW SOUNDING HAD 50KT WINDS AT 900H...JUST BELOW THE TOP OF THE NOCTURNAL INVERSION. THE INVERSION SHOULD BE QUICKLY ERODED THIS MORNING AS THE TEMPERATURE AT GLASGOW HAS ALREADY JUMPED FROM 36F AT THE TIME THE SOUNDING WAS RELEASED TO 52F AT 16Z. TEMPERATURES IN SOME OF THE DEEPER VALLEYS ACROSS OUR EASTERN ZONES ARE STILL IN THE 30S...BUT WILL QUICKLY JUMP INTO THE 40S AND 50S LATER THIS MORNING AS MIXING COMMENCES. LAPSE RATES ARE PROGGED TO GRADUALLY STEEPEN TODAY FROM THE WEST AND SHOULD EXCEED 7C/KM BY THIS AFTERNOON (PERHAPS NOT UNTIL LATER IN THE AFTERNOON IN THE EAST). THE 850H WIND IS PROGGED TO BE AROUND 50-60KTS AND IS NOT EXPECTED TO PUSH OUT OF OUR EASTERN ZONES UNTIL LATE THIS EVENING. 6 HOUR PRESSURE RISES OF AROUND 14MB ARE ALSO PROGGED THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING. LATEST MSAS ANALYSIS ALREADY INDICATING 3 HOUR PRESSURE RISES OF 6MB ACROSS SOUTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA. NO PLANS TO MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE HIGH WIND WARNING WHICH LOOKS GOOD. WILL MAKE SOME TWEAKS TO RAISE HIGH TEMPERATURES SOME...MAINLY ACROSS OUR SOUTHWEST ZONES WHERE TEMPERATURES ARE ALREADY WELL INTO THE 50S...AND IN SOME CASES ALREADY WITHIN A COUPLE DEGREES OF FORECAST HIGHS. 850H TEMPERATURES ACROSS OUR FAR NORTHERN ZONES ARE PROGGED TO DROP FROM AROUND +7C AT MIDDAY TO -1C BY 00Z SO WILL LIKELY SEE TEMPERATURES FALL OFF A BIT MID-LATE AFTERNOON. SURFACE OBSERVATIONS IN SOUTHWEST ALBERTA AND SOUTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA ALONG WITH CANADIAN RADAR DATA SHOWING SOME SHOWERS BEHIND THE FRONT IN SOUTHERN BC SO SOME ISOLATED SHOWERS STILL LOOK POSSIBLE ACROSS OUR NORTHWEST ZONES THIS AFTERNOON...ALTHOUGH THE MAIN CONCERN TODAY WILL BE THE STRONG WIND. CB .PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA...TODAY THRU MONDAY... ...WILL ISSUE HIGH WIND WARNING FOR TODAY THROUGH AND EVENING... WARM FRONT CURRENTLY SPLITS NORTHEAST MONTANA IN HALF WITH THE WARM SECTOR IN THE 40S AND 50S AND COLD SECTOR IN THE 20S AND 30S. THIS WARM FRONT MOVES TO THE EAST EARLY THIS MORNING WITH SURFACE LOW MOVING ACROSS CENTRAL SASKATCHEWAN. UPPER RIDGE CURRENTLY OVER THE AREA IS GETTING FLATTENED BY A STRONG SHORTWAVE MOVING THROUGH BRITISH COLUMBIA AT THIS TIME. STRONG COLD FRONT IS LOCATED OVER CENTRAL ALBERTA AT 09Z. BOTH THE FRONT AND SHORTWAVE WILL DIVE SOUTHEAST TOWARDS MONTANA TODAY. THE FRONT WILL REACH NORTHEAST MONTANA THIS AFTERNOON AND THE SHORTWAVE ARRIVES THIS EVENING. THE MAIN WEATHER CONCERN WITH THIS SYSTEM IS WIND. BOTH THE ETA AND GFS SHOW 850 MB BETWEEN 50 AND 60 KNOTS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING WITH LAPSE RATES UP TO 8 DEG C/KM AND 6 HR PRESSURE RISE UP TO 14 MB. WITH VERY GOOD MIXING AND STRONG PRESSURE RISES EXPECTED...MOST OF THIS WIND WILL REACH THE SURFACE. WILL ISSUE A HIGH WIND WARNING. WILL START THE WARNING IN THE WESTERN ZONES AT 13Z WHERE MIXING SHOULD START EARLY IN THE DAY. WILL START THE WARNING IN THE REST OF THE CWA AT 18Z. WITH THE BEST PRESSURE RISES AND COLD AIR ADVECTION EXPECTED IN THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING...WILL HAVE THE WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 06Z. WITH RADAR SHOWING SOME PRECIP BEHIND THE FRONT IN ALBERTA WILL KEEP A CHANCE OF SHOWERS FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. MUCH COLDER AIR ARRIVES TONIGHT WITH CANADIAN HIGH PRESSURE DROPPING SOUTH ON NW FLOW ALOFT. EXPECT NORTHWEST WINDS TO GRADUALLY DIMINISH TONIGHT. THIS HIGH MOVES INTO MONTANA ON SUNDAY WITH MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES. LOOK FOR A COLD NIGHT SUNDAY NIGHT WITH CLEAR SKIES AND LIGHT WINDS. MOST AREAS WILL HAVE SINGLE DIGITS FOR LOWS. THE SURFACE HIGH MOVES TO THE EAST ON MONDAY AND UPPER RIDGE MOVES ACROSS MONTANA. WHILE WARM AIR ADVECTION OCCURS ALOFT...WITH LIGHT EAST WINDS...A STRONG INVERSION SHOULD KEEP TEMPERATURES ON THE COOL SIDE. FORRESTER .LONG TERM...MONDAY NIGHT THRU SATURDAY... QUIET WEATHER IN THE EXTENDED. LATEST MODELS SIMILAR TO LAST NIGHT IN SHOWING HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT TO BE THE MAIN INFLUENCE ON OUR WEATHER. CHANCES OF GETTING ANY PRECIP ARE VERY SLIM. TEMPS WILL BE A LITTLE TRICKY AND GENERALLY COLDER THAN POTENTIAL. THIS IS DUE TO WINTER SEASON FAIR WEATHER PATTERNS THAT TYPICALLY CAUSE STRONG NOCTURNAL RADIATION COOLED VALLEY INVERSIONS...CARRIED WELL INTO THE DAYTIME HOURS. MODELS SHOW RATHER WEAK SURFACE GRADIENTS OVER PARTS OF THE PERIOD...WHICH WILL ENCOURAGE THIS. MODELS MOVE THE COLDER AND VERY DRY AIRMASS ASSOCIATED WITH A STRONG SURFACE HIGH OUT OF THE AREA MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY. THICKNESSES CLIMB TO THE 540S DM TUE...BUT WEAK SURFACE GRADIENTS WILL HOLD HIGHS MOSTLY TO THE 30S...EXCEPT 40S SW. UPPER TROUGH MOVING THROUGH THE AREA TUE NIGHT AND WED MORNING MAINTAINS STRONG SPLITTING MOTION...WITH NE MT REMAINING IN THE INACTIVE AREA BETWEEN. A COLD FRONT BRINGS ONLY SLIGHT COOLING WED AS BETTER MIXING ONLY A LITTLE OVERCOME BY COOL ADVECTION. SIMILAR TOO...BUT NOT QUITE AS COLD OF AN AIRMASS AS SUNDAY NIGHT...WITH A SURFACE HIGH MOVING OVER THE AREA FROM THE NW AND ACCOMPANYING DRY AIRMASS. MODELS SHOW A SECONDARY UPPER TROUGH IN THE NORTHERN BRANCH OF THE SPLIT FLOW REMAINING TO OUR NORTH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THE ARCTIC COLD FRONT IS PULLED CLOSE TO OUR AREA BEHIND IT...POSSIBLY WEAKLY BRUSHING OUR NE. THE CMC IS MORE AGGRESSIVE WITH THIS THOUGH AND APPEARS OVERDONE AND LESS LIKELY...BUT POSSIBLE. MAY NEED TO WATCH FOR FORMATION OF LOW OVERCAST NE JUST BEHIND THE SHALLOW AND DIFFUSE ARCTIC FRONT...BUT FOR NOW MODELS APPEAR FAIRLY DRY FOR MOST OF OUR AREA. A LARGE AND STRONG UPPER RIDGE ALONG THE WEST COAST SPREADS WARM AIR ALOFT INTO MONTANA WITH THICKNESSES IN THE 540S DM THU-SAT. ALTHOUGH MODELS INDICATE SURFACE GRADIENTS FAVOR WESTERLY WINDS...THESE ARE LIKELY TO BE LESS OR EVEN E-SE AS MODELS OFTEN TOO WEAK WITH SURFACE PRESSURE OVER EASTERN MONTANA IN THIS PATTERN. THEREFORE HIGH TEMPS...MAINLY IN NORTH TO BE LESS THAN THICKNESSES WOULD INDICATE LATE IN THE PERIOD. SIMONSEN && .KGGW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ...HIGH WIND WARNING 6 AM TODAY TO 11 PM TONIGHT MTZ016-021-059-060. ...HIGH WIND WARNING 11 AM TODAY TO 11 PM TONIGHT MTZ017>020-022>027-061-062 . &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 643 AM MST SAT DEC 11 2004 MTZ016>027-059>062-121300- CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY-DANIELS- DAWSON-EASTERN ROOSEVELT-GARFIELD-MCCONE-NORTHERN PHILLIPS- NORTHERN VALLEY-PETROLEUM-PRAIRIE-RICHLAND-SHERIDAN- SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS-WESTERN ROOSEVELT-WIBAUX- 643 AM MST SAT DEC 11 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA .DAY ONE... A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR STRONG WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS. REFER TO GTFNPWGGW OR WWUS75 KGGW FOR MORE INFORMATION. .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.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
16 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, December 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: 5431023, 5431133, 5431024, 5431025, 5431026, 5431027, 5431028, 5431029, 5431030, 5431031, 5431032, 5431033, 5431034, 5431134, 5431131, 5431132.