Winter Storm in Montana, March 17, 2005

Name: Winter Storm in Montana, March 17, 2005
Start: 2005-03-17T05:41
End: 2005-03-17T21:00
Location: Montana

March 17, 2005 · NWS MSO · 5 events in 4 counties and zones

Late winter storm brought 8 to 13 inches of new snow over the mountains of Northwest Montana with 4 to 8 inches in the valleys. Widespread west winds at 15 to 25 mph also caused drifting of snow.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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.

Late winter storm brought 8 to 13 inches of new snow over the mountains of Northwest Montana with 4 to 8 inches in the valleys. Widespread west winds at 15 to 25 mph also caused drifting of snow. Schools were closed in the northern Flathead valley due to heavy snowfall. Trees also snapped under the load from heavy snow. Some trees fell onto power lines causing outages across the northern Flathead valley as well. Several vehicle rollovers were also reported.

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 Mar 17, 3:42 AM MST, 1 hour 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 17, 3:42 AM MST, 1 hour 59 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
342 AM MST THU MAR 17 2005

.SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT...MOIST UPPER LEVEL LOW
PRESSURE SYSTEM CONTINUES TO SPIN ACROSS WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH
CENTRAL IDAHO. CURRENTLY THE CENTER OF THE CIRCULATION IS OVER
LOOKOUT PASS ON THE MONTANA IDAHO BORDER. THIS LOW WILL CONTINUE
SHOWERS ACROSS THE NORTHERN ROCKIES THROUGH THIS MORNING. ALL
HIGHLIGHTS IN EFFECT LOOK ON TRACK. REPORTS OF HEAVY SNOW WERE IN THE
CURRENT ROAD REPORT IN THE LOWER CLARK FORK REGION AS WELL AS THE
WEST GLACIER REGION. ALSO FEEL THAT GIVEN THE CURRENT RADAR IMAGERY
THE WARNINGS/ADVISORIES FOR THE REMAINDER OF WESTERN MONTANA AND THE
CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS LOOK ON TRACK. HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY REPORTS OF
SNOW IN THE MISSOULA VALLEYS YET. BUT FEEL THAT THE SNOW LEVEL COULD
NOT BE TOO MUCH ABOVE THE VALLEY BOTTOMS...IE THE BENCHES...WITH THE
MOST RECENT PRECIPITATION. EXPECT THE SNOW LEVEL TO FALL TO THE DECK
SHORTLY WITH THE NEXT ROUND OF SHOWERS...VISIBLE ON RADAR...BEHIND
THE COLD FRONT ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE LOW. THUS FEEL THAT ADVISORIES
IN THE FLATHEAD/MISSION AND MISSOULA/BITTERROOT VALLEYS LOOK GOOD.

THIS AFTERNOON THERE REMAINS A THREAT OF SNOW BANDING ACROSS WEST
CENTRAL IDAHO WITH LOW LEVEL INSTABILITY AND MOISTURE. TONIGHT
SHOWERS WILL BE ON THE DECREASE AS WEAK RIDGING BUILDS IN BEHIND THE
EXITING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM. FRIDAY ANOTHER WEAKER FEATURE WILL PUSH
INTO THE INLAND NORTHWEST...MAINLY EFFECTING NORTHWEST MONTANA.
FRIDAY NIGHT A SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW DEVELOPS...ALLOWING FOR SOME
OVERRUNNING PRECIPITATION AS WARMER AIR MOVES IN ALOFT.

.LONG TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...THE MODELS ARE STILL
IN GOOD AGREEMENT THAT THE REGION WILL TRANSITION INTO SOUTHWEST
FLOW...AS A TROUGH DIGS OFF THE COAST OF WASHINGTON AND BC. THIS
SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL PUSH WARM AND MOIST AIR INTO WESTERN MONTANA AND
NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO. SNOW LEVELS WILL RISE UNDER THIS FLOW PATTERN...
SO EXPECTING VALLEYS TO SEE MOSTLY RAIN. TEMPERATURES WILL ALSO RISE
DURING THIS PERIOD...AS 850 TEMPS INCREASE. THEN TOWARDS MID NEXT
WEEK A RIDGE WILL BEGIN TO BUILD OVER THE WEST COAST...WHICH WILL
PUSH A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. THE TIMING OF
THIS SYSTEM IS STILL UNCERTAIN...BUT THE MODELS ARE IN AGREEMENT THAT
IT SHOULD OCCUR. THIS SYSTEM APPEARS TO DRAG A COLD FRONT THROUGH...
BRINGING WIDE SPREAD PRECIPITATION. AFTER THIS SYSTEM MOVES THROUGH
TOWARDS THE END OF NEXT WEEK THE AREA WILL BE UNDER NORTHWEST FLOW
WITH WEAK DISTURBANCES MOVING ACROSS...CAUSING SCATTERED SHOWERS TO
DEVELOP.

&&

.MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...WINTER STORM WARNING ABOVE 4000 FEET THROUGH
     THIS MORNING MTZ002-004-006-043.
  ...WINTER STORM WARNING ABOVE 5500 FEET THROUGH
     THIS MORNING MTZ007.
  ...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY BELOW 5500 FEET THROUGH NOON
     TODAY MTZ007.
  ...SNOW ADVISORY BELOW 4000 FEET THROUGH THIS MORNING MTZ002.
  ...SNOW ADVISORY THROUGH THIS MORNING MTZ003.
  ...SNOW ADVISORY THROUGH NOON TODAY MTZ005.
  ...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY BELOW 4000 FEET THROUGH
     THIS MORNING MTZ004-006-043.
ID...WINTER STORM WARNING ABOVE 4000 FEET THROUGH THIS
     MORNING IDZ005-006.
  ...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY BELOW 4000 FEET THROUGH THIS
     MORNING IDZ005-006.

&&

SHORT TERM...GILCHRIST
LONG TERM...SMITH
weather.gov/missoula

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 17, 5:20 AM MST, 21 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
520 AM MST (420 AM PST) THU MAR 17 2005

IDZ005-006-MTZ002>007-043-181300-
NORTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS-SOUTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS-
WEST GLACIER REGION-FLATHEAD/MISSION VALLEYS-LOWER CLARK FORK REGION-
MISSOULA/BITTERROOT VALLEYS-BITTERROOT/SAPPHIRE MOUNTAINS-
BUTTE/PINTLAR REGION-BLACKFOOT REGION-
520 AM MST (420 AM PST) THU MAR 17 2005

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND WESTERN
MONTANA

.DAY ONE... TODAY

A WINTER STORM WILL PROVIDE ACCUMULATING SNOW AND WINDY CONDITIONS TO
THE REGION THIS MORNING. PLEASE REFER TO GTFWSWMSO FOR DETAILS.

.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.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Bitterroot / Sapphire Mountains

When: March 17, 5:41 AM MST to 9:00 PM MST
Where: Bitterroot / Sapphire Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.508, -113.828 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Bitterroot / Sapphire Mountains

When: March 17, 5:41 AM MST to 2:45 PM MST
Where: Bitterroot / Sapphire Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 46.508, -113.828 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Blackfoot Region

When: March 17, 6:41 AM MST to 3:00 PM MST
Where: Blackfoot Region forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.986, -113.597 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, West Glacier Region

When: March 17, 6:41 AM MST to 2:45 PM MST
Where: West Glacier Region forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 47.971, -114.069 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Lower Clark Fork Region

When: March 17, 12:45 PM MST to 2:45 PM MST
Where: Lower Clark Fork Region forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.286, -114.685 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Montana in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, March 2005

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: 5440781, 5440785, 5440782, 5440784, 5440783.