Cold/Wind Chill, West Glacier Region
- When
- December 30, 5:45 PM MST to December 31, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- West Glacier Region forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 47.971, -114.069 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold in Montana, December 30 to 31, 2004
An arctic front brought gusty east winds of 15 to 25 mph along with temperatures falling into the single digits below zero. These conditions produced wind chill readings of 20 to 32 degrees below zero.
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
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 MSO wrote it up.
An arctic front brought gusty east winds of 15 to 25 mph along with temperatures falling into the single digits below zero. These conditions produced wind chill readings of 20 to 32 degrees below zero.
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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 30, 2:06 PM MST, 3 hours 39 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 30, 2:06 PM MST, 3 hours 39 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
206 PM MST THU DEC 30 2004
.SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT...THERE ARE SEVERAL
CONCERNS FOR THIS FORECAST PERIOD...ESPECIALLY TONIGHT. SNOW WILL
CONTINUE ACROSS NORTHWEST MONTANA TONIGHT. MODELS ARE IN GOOD
AGREEMENT WITH A WEATHER DISTURBANCE MOVING IN THE SOUTHWEST FLOW...
CAUSING LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW SHOWERS ALONG THE NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO
BORDER. HAVE ISSUED A SNOW ADVISORY FOR POTENTIAL MTZ04 AND IDZ05.
ALSO COOLER ARCTIC AIR IS ALREADY DRAINING OVER THE PASSES INTO
THE GLACIER AND BLACKFOOT REGIONS...WHICH IS EXPECTED TO CAUSE SNOW
AND BLOWING SNOW. A WEAK RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE THAT IS OVER WEST
CENTRAL MONTANA COULD CAUSE ENOUGH CLEARING TONIGHT TO HAVE PATCHY
FOG FORM IN THE MISSOULA AND BITTERROOT VALLEYS. A LOW PRESSURE
SYSTEM WILL REMAIN OVER THE COAST OF OREGON AND WASHINGTON THROUGH
THE END OF THE WEEKEND...WHICH WILL CAUSE WEATHER DISTURBANCES TO
MOVE ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. THESE DISTURBANCES WILL CAUSE A CHANCE
OF PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA.
.LONG TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...WIDESPREAD OVER RUNNING SNOW
IS STILL EXPECTED FOR NORTHWEST MONTANA THIS WEEKEND...BUT MODELS
HAVE BACKED OFF ON THE INTENSITY OF THE COLD AIR MOVING OVER THE
GREAT DIVIDE. COLD AIR LOOKS TO BE SHALLOWER THAN PREVIOUSLY
THOUGHT...AND WINDS AT PASS LEVEL ARE NOT CONDUCIVE TO HELP COLD AIR
MOVE OVER. UPPED TEMPERATURES AND LOWERED WIND SPEEDS IN THE FLATHEAD
VALLEY AND ALONG THE DIVIDE TO ACCOMMODATE. MODELS CONTINUE TO
STRUGGLE WITH SPECIFICS MONDAY ON...ADVERTISING ANYTHING FROM HIGH
PRESSURE RIDGE OVER US TO JET STREAM ENHANCED SNOW SHOWERS. MORE
SOLUTIONS BRING PRECIPITATION TO THE AREA THAN DO NOT...SO DID NOT
CHANGE THE WEATHER COVERAGE OF THE PREVIOUS FORECAST.
&&
.MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY TONIGHT FOR MTZ02 AND MTZ43...
...SNOW ADVISORY TONIGHT AND TOMORROW MORNING FOR MTZ04..
...WINTER WEATHER WATCH FOR FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY FOR
MTZ02 AND MTZ43.
ID...SNOW ADVISORY TONIGHT AND TOMORROW MORNING FOR IDZ05.
&&
SHORT TERM/SMITH
LONG TERM/STEGEMILLER
weather.gov/missoulaHazardous weather outlook, Dec 30, 2:44 PM MST, 3 hours 1 minute before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 244 PM MST (144 PM PST) THU DEC 30 2004 MTZ002-043-311200- WEST GLACIER REGION-BLACKFOOT REGION- 244 PM MST THU DEC 30 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND WESTERN MONTANA .DAY ONE... TODAY COOLER WILL CONTINUE TO FILTER THROUGH THE VALLEYS TONIGHT...CAUSING GUSTY WINDS. A WEATHER DISTURBANCE MOVING OUT INTO EASTERN MONTANA... WILL CONTINUE TO CAUSE SNOW SHOWERS. THE COMBINATION OF SNOW AND WIND WILL CREATE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW TONIGHT. FOR MORE INFORMATION REFER TO THE GTFWSWMSO. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY A WINTER STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT. PLEASE REFER TO GTFWSWMSO FOR FURTHER DETAILS. AN ARCTIC WEATHER SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT WESTERN MONTANA THIS HOLIDAY WEEKEND BEGINNING FRIDAY EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY. ARCTIC AIR WILL COLLIDE WITH OVERRUNNING WARM MOIST AIR ALOFT FROM THE WEST AND BRING WIDESPREAD STEADY LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW. EXPECT COLD AIR AND STRONG EAST TO NORTHEAST WINDS PRODUCING VERY COLD WIND CHILLS...ESPECIALLY ALONG CANYONS AND PASSES ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. IDZ005-MTZ004-311200- NORTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS-LOWER CLARK FORK REGION- 244 PM MST (144 PM PST) THU DEC 30 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND WESTERN MONTANA .DAY ONE... TODAY A WEATHER DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE THROUGH SOUTHWEST FLOW TONIGHT... CREATING LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW SHOWERS. FOR MORE INFORMATION REFER TO THE GTFWSWMSO. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY 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. weather.gov/missoula
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Cold/Wind Chill
- Cold or wind chill below warning criteria that caused deaths, injuries or damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flood and Winter Storm in California, December 30 to 31, 2004
- High Surf in Puerto Rico, December 30, 2004
- Ice Storm in Minnesota, December 30, 2004
- Ice Storm in Michigan, December 30, 2004
- Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, December 30 to 31, 2004
- Ice Storm in Minnesota, December 30, 2004
- Ice Storm in North Dakota, December 30, 2004
- Heavy Snow in Nevada, December 30 to 31, 2004
- Ice Storm in Wisconsin, December 30, 2004
- Heavy Snow in Montana, December 30, 2004
- High Wind in Oregon, December 30, 2004
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, December 30 to 31, 2004
More
Every storm in Montana in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, December 2004
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: 5430395.