An upper level trough and associated surface cold front moved across Western Montana beginning on the evening of June 11 and continuing through the day on June 12. This brought heavy snow accumulations throughout the area.
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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 MSO wrote it up.
An upper level trough and associated surface cold front moved across Western Montana beginning on the evening of June 11 and continuing through the day on June 12. This brought heavy snow accumulations throughout the area. Power outages occurred in northwest Montana as heavy snow caused tree damage from the northern Flathead Valley southward to Evaro Hill and Greenough Park near Missoula.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
The Flathead County dispatch reported 7 inches of new snowfall in Marion, MT. Tree damage and power outages were also reported.
Various heavy snow reports were taken across the West Glacier Region from trained spotters, the general public, the Montana Department of Transportation and automated observing stations. Snowfall amounts ranged from 4.5 inches in Hungry Horse to 10 inches at Essex and Swan Lake at the lower elevations. In the mountains, snowfall ranged from 12 inches at Moss Peak, 24 inches above the Loop to 40 inches at Badger Pass. The heavy snow brought down trees on the Sun Road and other routes in Glacier National Park.
A spotter reported numerous small trees down due to heavy snow falling on them along highway 83, 5 miles south of Swan Lake. Storm total snow accumulations ranged from 4 inches in Condon to 14 inches at Stuart Mountain.
Trained spotters and law enforcement reported snow accumulations ranging from 5 inches in Round Butte to 9 inches on Jette Hill. Law enforcement also reported a power outage in Polson due to a tree down over a power line. Tree branches were reported snapped around Flathead Lake, Big Fork, Ferndale and in Kalispell.
Lookout Pass Ski Resort reported 6 inches and Evaro Hill 4 inches of new snowfall. Evaro Hill also experienced tree damage from the heavy snow.
Lolo Pass Visitor Center reported 6 inches of new snowfall.
Heavy snow was reported at the Smith Creek automated observing station totaling 8 inches. Heavy snow damaged trees and knocked down numerous tree branches in the Greenough Park area near Missoula.
Heavy snow was reported from various sources including automated observing stations and trained spotters. Storm total snow accumulations ranged from 4 inches in Philipsburg to 22 inches in Warm Springs.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, June 2008
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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 110989, 110996, 110999, 111008, 111009, 111010, 111109, 111110.