A Pacific storm brought snow, blowing snow and damaging winds to the Northern Rocky Mountain Front. Six-hour snowfall amounts of 7 inches were measured in the warned area at a time when winds were strong.
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 TFX wrote it up.
A Pacific storm brought snow, blowing snow and damaging winds to the Northern Rocky Mountain Front. Six-hour snowfall amounts of 7 inches were measured in the warned area at a time when winds were strong.
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 Jan 2, 3:40 AM MST, 21 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 340 AM MST TUE JAN 2 2007 .DISCUSSION... TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY...STRONG SURFACE WINDS CONTINUE TO BE THE MAIN WEATHER PLAYER TODAY AND WEDNESDAY. HIGH WIND CRITERIA ALREADY MET ALONG THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT. STRONG WINDS SHOULD PUSH FURTHER EAST OVER THE NORTHERN PLAINS LATER THIS MORNING SO HAVE UPGRADED THE PREVIOUSLY ISSUED WIND WATCH TO A WARNING. WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL PERSIST AND MODELS CONTINUE TO INDICATE THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY SNOWS OVER THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT. HAVE UPGRADED THE WATCH TO A WARNING FOR TONIGHT FOR ELEVATIONS ABOVE 5000 FEET. STRONG DOWNSLOPE WINDS WILL BRING A CORRESPONDING RISE IN AFTERNOON TEMPERATURE READINGS TODAY. WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY BUT THE SURFACE GRADIENT SHOULD RELAX BY THURSDAY ALLOWING FOR A GRADUAL CESSATION OF WINDS. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN ABOVE SEASONAL AVERAGES. EMANUEL THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT...THE MAIN AXIS OF A BROAD UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. BEHIND THE TROUGH AXIS RIDGING WILL STRUGGLE TO DEVELOP...LEAVING A DIRTY WEST TO NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT OVER THE CWA. HAVE HIGH CHANCE TO LIKELY POPS OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND SLIGHT CHANCE TO CHANCE POPS OVER THE PLAINS THROUGH THE ENTIRE PERIOD. TEMPERATURES WILL BE COLD ENOUGH TO SUPPORT SNOW OVER THE ENTIRE CWA...HAVE MAINTAINED THE COLDER TEMPS PUT INTO THE FORECAST LAST NIGHT. BREEZY WESTERLY WINDS WILL CONTINUE OVER MOST OF THE AREA THROUGH THE WEEKEND WITH THE STRONGEST WINDS ALONG THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT. THOMSON MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...MODELS IN ROUGH AGREEMENT DURING THIS PERIOD...DIFFERING IN MINOR FEATURES AND TIMING. A SERIES OF MINOR DISTURBANCES...IN A MOIST AND FAIRLY STRONG NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT...ARE EXPECTED TO RESULT IN MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW FOR MOST OTHER AREAS. A WEAK COLD FRONT DROPS SOUTH MONDAY NIGHT BRINGING TEMPERATURES CLOSE TO SEASONAL AVERAGES. EK && .AVIATION... UPDATED 0555Z. A SERIES OF WEAK DISTURBANCES WILL CONTINUE TO FLATTEN THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OVER THE WESTERN UNITED STATES THROUGH 06Z WEDNESDAY. THIS WILL CAUSE THE WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT TO BECOME VERY STRONG OVER NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA THROUGH THE PERIOD. SNOW WILL DEVELOP OVER THE MOUNTAINS ALONG AND WEST OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE OVERNIGHT...BUT ONLY MID AND HIGH CLOUDS WILL MOVE OVER THE REMAINDER OF NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA. STRONG WEST WINDS ALONG THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND ADJACENT PLAINS WILL PERSIST OVERNIGHT THEN INCREASE AND SPREAD EAST ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA AFTER 12Z TUESDAY. COULSTON && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GTF 52 37 44 25 / 10 10 10 20 CTB 50 36 39 21 / 10 10 10 20 HLN 42 26 40 20 / 10 10 10 40 BZN 34 21 34 19 / 10 10 30 40 WEY 21 5 24 10 / 10 10 50 80 DLN 38 25 38 20 / 10 20 40 50 HVR 47 34 42 21 / 0 10 10 20 LWT 48 33 41 25 / 0 10 10 30 && .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 5 AM MST WEDNESDAY FOR MTZ011>014-044>046-049. HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 11 AM MST WEDNESDAY FOR MTZ009-010-048. WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 5 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 5 AM MST WEDNESDAY FOR MTZ009-048. && SHORT TERM...EMANUEL LONG TERM...THOMSON/EK AVIATION...COULSTON WEATHER.GOV/GREATFALLS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 945 PM MST MON JAN 1 2007 MTZ009-010-048-022315- NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT-EASTERN GLACIER- SOUTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT- 945 PM MST MON JAN 1 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT. WEST WINDS 30 TO 50 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 70 MPH ARE LIKELY. GUSTS TO 90 MPH ARE POSSIBLE IN FAVORED MOUNTAIN PASSES AND CANYONS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THE HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH 11 AM MST ON WEDNESDAY. A WINTER STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT TUESDAY NIGHT. BLOWING SNOW IS LIKELY WITH HEAVY SNOW ALSO POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. MTZ011>014-044>046-049-022315- HILL-CASCADE-CHOUTEAU-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN LEWIS AND CLARK-TOOLE- LIBERTY-EASTERN PONDERA-EASTERN TETON- 415 PM MST MON JAN 1 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL MONTANA...NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY A HIGH WIND WATCH IS IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON UNTIL WEDNESDAY MORNING. WEST WINDS 20 TO 40 MPH ARE LIKELY. GUSTS TO 65 MPH ARE POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. MTZ008-015-047-050>055-022315- BEAVERHEAD-MADISON-BLAINE-JUDITH BASIN-FERGUS-JEFFERSON- BROADWATER-MEAGHER-GALLATIN- 415 PM MST MON JAN 1 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL MONTANA...NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Six inches of snow was reported at the Badger Pass SNOTEL site (Heart Butte 14SW) along with gusty winds.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, January 2007
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: 7644.