High Wind in Montana, March 5, 2004

Name: High Wind in Montana, March 5, 2004
Start: 2004-03-05T22:00
End: 2004-03-05T22:00
Location: Montana

March 5, 2004 · NWS TFX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A high wind event occurred along the Northern Rocky Mountain Front from the afternoon of the 5th through the afternoon hours of the 6th. Some reported wind speeds include: 115 mph at Logan Pass in Glacier National Park, 73 mph 11 SE East Glacier Park, 57 mph at Browning, and 56 mph at Cut Bank.

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.

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 Mar 5, 8:50 PM MST, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 5, 8:50 PM MST, 1 hour 10 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MONTANA
850 PM MST FRI MAR 5 2004

.SHORT TERM...NO UPDATE REQUIRED TONIGHT. UPPER TROF CONTINUES TO
SWING ACROSS THE COUNTY WARNING AREA TONIGHT. MAJORITY OF
PRECIPITATION OCCURRING OVER THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS WITH DOWNSLOPE
WINDS KEEPING IT OFF THE PLAINS. THIS MAY BE CHANGING AS RADAR
BEGINNING TO SHOW RETURNS MOVING OFF THE MOUNTAINS AND INTO WESTERN
CASCADE COUNTY. SO WILL LEAVE POPS ALONE. WIND STILL GUSTY BUT
SPEEDS HAVE DECREASED SOME. WILL ALLOW HIGHLIGHTS TO CONTINUE AT
THIS TIME. UPPER RIDGE CONTINUES TO PUSH INTO WESTERN MONTANA
SATURDAY. WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO DECREASE SOME BUT REMAIN
BREEZY. EMANUEL

SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...MODELS ARE IN DECENT AGREEMENT
THROUGH THE PERIOD. 12Z GFS/UKMET/CANADIAN APPEAR TO BE TOO WEAK WITH
THE SHORTWAVE ENERGY OVER THE NORTHERN PACIFIC...WHILE THE ETA IS A
BIT DEEPER. A LOOK AT WATER VAPOR IMAGERY INDICATES THE DEEPER ETA
APPEARS TO BE CORRECT HERE...SO WILL FOLLOW IT THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF
THE PERIOD. LATER IN THE PERIOD...THINK THE CANADIAN IS A BIT TOO
AMPLIFIED WITH ENERGY AROUND 140 WEST. WILL USE THE LESS AMPLIFIED
AND FURTHER NORTH GFS...WHICH IS FAIRLY SIMILAR TO YESTERDAYS ECMWF.

SPECIFICALLY...A BRISK NORTHWESTERLY FLOW WILL CONTINUE FOR MUCH OF
THE PERIOD. SHORTWAVE ENERGY WILL DIVE SOUTHWEST IN THE FLOW ON
SATURDAY NIGHT. WILL KEEP THE LOWER POPS GOING OVER THE WESTERN AND
SOUTHWESTERN MOUNTAINS DUE TO DYNAMICS IN THE AREA. WILL ALSO KEEP
LOW POPS IN OVER THESE AREAS ON SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT AS MOISTURE
OVERRIDES A BUILDING RIDGE. THE RIDGE WILL THEN PROPAGATE EAST INTO
THE ROCKIES...WITH THE AXIS BUILDING INTO WESTERN AND CENTRAL
MONTANA ON TUESDAY. SHORTWAVE ENERGY STREAMING ACROSS SOUTHERN
CANADA WILL PREVENT THE RIDGE FROM BECOMING TOO AMPLIFIED. WILL GO
WITH ZERO POPS OVER ALL AREAS STARTING ON MONDAY WITH RIDGE AXIS
APPROACHING AND DYNAMICS STAYING NORTH. WINDS WILL STAY UP THROUGH
MOST OF THE PERIOD WITH 700 MB GRADIENTS REMAINING HIGH. WINDIEST
DAY WILL BE SUNDAY...WITH THE ETA PROGS INDICATING WINDS OF OVER 65
KNOTS. WILL GENERALLY WARM TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE PERIOD. WILL GO
WARMEST ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY WITH DOWNSLOPING AND SUBSIDENCE
BENEATH THE RIDGE COINCIDING. SCHAUMANN

TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...MODELS KEEP LONG WAVE RIDGE OVER
MONTANA AND THE INTER-MOUNTAIN WEST INTO THURSDAY...THEN RIDGE
FLATTENS AND FLOW BECOME MORE ZONAL. HOWEVER...SEVERAL SHORT WAVE
TROUGHS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE RIDGE DURING THIS PERIOD. THUS
TEMPERATURES WILL NOT BE AS MILD AS MODELS INDICATE. THOUGH IT WILL
BE MOSTLY DRY...WITH ONLY A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS OVER THE ROCKY
MOUNTAINS AND THE SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN ABOVE
SEASONAL AVERAGE. WILLIAMSON DC

&&

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF NN 028/041 026/050 037 14200
    BBBBE 056/036 058/033 051/029 051/028 049 00000000000
CTB NN 025/039 026/048 037 14200
    BBBBN 055/035 053/031 051/026 045/024 046 00000000000
HLN EN 029/039 025/048 029 14530
    BBEBE 053/027 054/029 049/028 050/026 048 00000000000
BZN EE 024/036 021/047 025 14630
    BBBBE 049/020 047/023 045/022 046/020 046 00000000000
WEY SE 014/029 008/035 012 14863
    BBEEE 039/012 036/014 035/007 035/009 036 320001210-0
DLN EE 023/037 023/049 028 1452-
    BBEEE 049/028 050/028 047/026 047/025 046 --00000-000
HVR NN 026/037 017/047 031 14200
    BBBBB 055/030 054/028 046/024 047/024 046 00000000000
LWT NN 024/037 021/048 033 14200
    BBBBE 052/030 055/029 051/025 046/024 047 00000000000

&&

.TFX...HIGH WIND WARNING TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING FOR
       THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND THE ADJACENT PLAINS.
       WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING FOR THE
       ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT ABOVE 5000 FEET.
       WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MUCH OF SOUTHWEST MONTANA TONIGHT
       THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING.

&&

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 5, 5:30 AM MST, 16 hours 30 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
530 AM MST FRI MAR 5 2004

MTZ008>015-044>055-061210-
BEAVERHEAD-NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT-GLACIER-HILL-CASCADE-
CHOUTEAU-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN LEWIS AND CLARK-MADISON-TOOLE-
LIBERTY-EASTERN PONDERA-BLAINE-SOUTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT-
EASTERN TETON-JUDITH BASIN-FERGUS-JEFFERSON-BROADWATER-MEAGHER-
GALLATIN-
530 AM MST FRI MAR 5 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
MONTANA

.DAY ONE...TODAY

...HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 12 PM
SATURDAY FOR THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND THE ADJACENT PLAINS.
PLEASE SEE GTFNPWTFX FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 12 PM
SATURDAY FOR THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT ABOVE 5000 FEET. PLEASE SEE
GTFWSWTFX FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW IN EFFECT FROM
12 AM TO 12 PM SATURDAY FOR MUCH OF SOUTHWEST MONTANA. PLEASE SEE
GTFWSWTFX FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

STRONG WINDS ARE POSSIBLE OVER MUCH OF NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA ON
SUNDAY. THIS AREA IS BEING WATCHED CLOSELY FOR A POSSIBLE HIGH WIND
WATCH OR WARNING.

.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, North Rocky Mountain Front

When: March 5, 10:00 PM MST
Where: North Rocky Mountain Front forecast zone
Measured: 100 kt (115 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 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, March 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: 5389472.