Montana, 2008

Heavy Snow in Montana, May 22 to 23, 2008

May 22 to 23, 2008 · NWS MSO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Cold low pressure system brought heavy snow to higher elevations of southwest Montana.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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.

Cold low pressure system brought heavy snow to higher elevations of southwest Montana.

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 May 21, 1:34 PM MST, 13 hours 26 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 21, 1:34 PM MST, 13 hours 26 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, May 21, 12:42 PM MST, 14 hours 18 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Butte / Blackfoot Region

When
May 22, 3:00 AM MST to May 23, 7:00 AM MST
Where
Butte / Blackfoot Region forecast zone
Reported by
Emergency Manager
Coordinates
46.306, -113.025 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy snow reported at Georgetown Lake. Five inches of snow was received by 2 PM on 5/22/2008 and eight inches total by 7 AM 5/23/2008.

What these are

Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Montana in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, May 2008

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 95371.