A cold front brought cold temperatures, snowfall and very strong winds to the region. Blizzard conditions were reported in five counties of northeast Montana.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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 GGW wrote it up.
A cold front brought cold temperatures, snowfall and very strong winds to the region. Blizzard conditions were reported in five counties of northeast Montana.
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 Glasgow, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 13, 10:26 AM MST, 2 hours 19 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 1026 AM MST TUE JAN 13 2009 .SHORT TERM...FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA...TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY... UPDATE THIS MORNING MAINLY TO ADJUST TEMPERATURES AND PRECIPITATION TYPES FOR TODAY. WARM AIR HAS INVADED THE SOUTHWEST ZONES WHILE THE NORTHEAST REMAINS COLD. SURFACE LOW OVER SOUTHERN SASKATCHEWAN EXPECTED TO SLIDE SOUTH ALONG FRONT OVER EASTERN MONTANA TODAY. BEST CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION WILL BE JUST TO THE EAST OF THE FRONT WHICH EXTENDS FROM SWIFT CURRENT TO SCOBEY TO JUST WEST OF SIDNEY. WHILE WARMER AIR IS TO THE WEST OF THE FRONT...SHALLOW INVERSION KEEPING COLDER AIR IN THE MILK/MISSOURI VALLEYS. ADJUSTED TEMPERATURES TO REFLECT WHERE THE COLD AIR WILL LINGER. SPREAD MIX OF PRECIPITATION FURTHER EAST TO REFLECT THE WARMER AIR ALOFT...LEFT JUST SNOW IN FAR NORTHEAST TO THE LEFT OF THE TRACK OF THE LOW. AS LOW MOVES ACROSS NORTHEAST MONTANA THIS AFTERNOON...WINDS WILL INCREASE BEHIND IT...AND CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING. WINDS EXPECTED TO BE STRONG ENOUGH TO PRODUCE SOME BLOWING SNOW THIS EVENING ALTHOUGH LITTLE LOOSE SNOW EXCEPT IN THE NORTHEAST. HAVE THUS TRIMMED BACK THE MENTION OF BLOWING SNOW TO AREAS WHERE STRONGEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED. EBERT PREVIOUS SHORT TERM DISCUSSION...LARGE SCALE PATTERN REMAINS VERY AMPLIFIED...WITH A LARGE HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT OVER THE PACIFIC COAST STATES...CENTERED OVER CA COAST. NE MT IS IN A VERY STRONG NW FLOW AROUND THIS HIGH...UP TO 150 KT AS SHOWN ON 00Z KGGW SOUNDING. SATELLITE CHANNELS HAVE BEEN SHOWING QUITE A BIT OF MOISTURE/CLOUDS MOVING OUR WAY IN THIS FLOW OVERNIGHT...BUT ONLY WEAK SHORTWAVE ACTIVITY. WARM FRONT MOVING E ACROSS OUR W MOST ZONES IS PROVIDING SOME LIFT FOR LIGHT SNOW IN OUR E...BUT CONTINUING TO LOOK RATHER SPOTTY AND LIGHT AND LESS THAN PREVIOUSLY EXPECTED. THE MAIN SHORTWAVE IN NW FLOW MOVES OFF INTO ND AND WITH LESSENING OVERRUNNING...EXPECT ONLY SCATTERED LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS TODAY. THE WARM FRONT HAS ALREADY CAUSED TEMPS TO CLIMB WELL ABOVE FREEZING IN OUR SW. THIS WILL SPREAD E ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA TODAY AS THICKNESSES CLIMB TO THE 530S DM. MUCH OF THE AREA WILL CLIMB TO THE 30S AND LOWER 40S FOR HIGHS. THE LAST IN THE CURRENT STRING OF ARCTIC HIGHS IS QUICKLY INTENSIFYING OVER NW CANADA THIS MORN. THIS WILL CONTINUE TO INTENSIFY...TO A 1045-1050 MB CENTER...AS IT MOVES INTO W ND WED. THIS SIMILAR TO THE PATTERN OF 2 DAYS AGO...WITH A SHARP ARCTIC FRONTAL PASSAGE FOR NE NT TONIGHT...BUT COLDER AIR FOLLOWING THIS FRONT. 850 MB WINDS ARE UP TO 50 KT...JUST A LITTLE LESS THAN THE PREVIOUS FRONT THAT PRODUCED OVER 70 MPH WINDS...BUT NOT AS WELL LINKED WITH THE STRONGER COLD ADVECTION. EVEN SO...MODELS SHOW UP TO 40 KT WINDS AT 850 MB DURING THE MOST FAVORABLE LAPSE RATE TIMES...WHICH ALSO SHOW SUPER ADIABATIC LAPSE RATES AGAIN...INDICATIVE OF THE LOWER LEVEL TURBULENCE...AND SO WILL HAVE WIDESPREAD BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW AGAIN. SIMILAR TO LAST SYSTEM MODELS INDICATE ONLY LIGHT QPF...AND A PAIR OF RATHER WEAK VORTICITY CENTERS JUST BRUSHING OUR NE. WILL LEAVE ANY ADVISORY CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE DAY SHIFT...WHICH LOOK MOST FAVORABLE AGAIN IN OUR N DUE TO THE POTENTIAL OF BLOWING SNOW AS WELL AS WIND CHILL. WARM FRONT MOVES BACK ACROSS THE AREA THU IN A PATTERN SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY...BUT WITH LESS FAVORABLE LIFT/UPPER SUPPORT AND AIRMASS DEPTH...SO KEEPING POPS VERY LOW. .LONG TERM...THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY... MODELS REMAIN IN GOOD AGREEMENT FOR THE MOST PART THRU THE EXTENDED PERIOD. IT APPEARS THAT THE END OF THIS WEEK THRU EARLY NEXT WEEK WILL BE ONE OF THE NICEST STRETCHES WE HAVE HAD FOR SOME TIME AS WE WILL BE UNDER THE EFFECTS A BIG UPPER RIDGE. THE BEGINNING OF THE PERIOD ON THURSDAY NIGHT HAS THE WESTERN UPPER RIDGE AXIS FAR ENUF EAST TO PUSH THE ARCTIC AIR INTO THE DAKOTAS AND GIVE US 850 MB TEMPERATURES ABOVE ZERO CELSIUS. THE WARM AIR ADVECTION THEN CONTINUES THRU THE WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK AS THE RIDGE AXIS MOVES EAST. ONLY REAL WRINKLE AMONGST THE MODELS IS THE HANDLING OF A FAST-MOVING UPPER DISTURBANCE IN THE NORTHWEST FLOW FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY. OPERATIONAL GFS IS THE ODD MODEL OUT WITH THIS FEATURE WITH RESPECT TO IT BEING MOIST ENUF HERE TO GENERATE SOME LIGHT PRECIPITATION AS IT MOVES DIRECTLY OVERHEAD. REMAINING OPERATIONAL MODELS TAKE THIS FEATURE FARTHER EAST INTO THE DAKOTAS AND LEAVE THE LOWER LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE HERE ON THE DRY SIDE. SO FOR NOW WILL KEEP THINGS DRY AND SIMPLY ADD IN SOME CLOUDS TO ACCOUNT FOR THE PASSAGE OF THIS WAVE. OTHERWISE NOT EXPECTING MUCH IN THE WAY OF CLOUDS THRU MOST OF THE EXTENDED PERIOD. TEMPERATURES WILL DEFINITELY BE WARMER THAN WE HAVE HAD FOR SOME TIME. BIG QUESTION IS THE AMOUNT OF MIXING TO GET THE WARM AIR DOWN TO THE SURFACE...AS OTHERWISE THE SNOW COVER WILL AID IN KEEPING TEMPERATURES ON THE COOL SIDE DESPITE THE MILD AIR ALOFT. FOR NOW WILL KEEP THE WARMING TEMPERED...ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT AND FOR THE NORTHEAST HALF OR SO OF THE CWA. BUT IT WILL STILL BE RELATIVELY MILD NONETHELESS. AS THE WEEK UNFOLDS EXPECTING THAT A BETTER DETERMINATION OF EXPECTED WIND AND MIXING CAN BE MADE. && .AVIATION... ANOTHER SYSTEM SLATED TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA TODAY. SO SOME LOWER CEILINGS ARE EXPECTED AS WELL AS SOME LIGHT SNOW WHICH MAY REDUCE VISIBILITY AT TIMES. IN GENERAL VFR CONDITIONS EARLY THIS MORNING WILL BE GIVING WAY TO MVFR WITH SOME OCCASIONAL IFR. A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THRU LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR EARLY EVENING AND BRING A WIND SHIFT TO NORTHWEST AND SPEEDS WILL INCREASE TO 15-25 KT. TONIGHT ANY SNOW WILL BE ENDING AND CEILINGS ARE EXPECTED TO RISE TO VFR. NORTHWEST WIND BECOMES NORTH AND GRADUALLY DECREASES TO NEAR 10 KT BY WEDNESDAY MORNING. VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED WEDNESDAY WITH LIGHT WIND UNDER SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE. && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && WEATHER.GOV/GLASGOW
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 642 AM MST TUE JAN 13 2009 MTZ018-019-061-062-141200- DANIELS-SHERIDAN-NORTHERN VALLEY-EASTERN ROOSEVELT- 642 AM MST TUE JAN 13 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT WINDS SHIFTING TO NORTH AND INCREASING TO 15 TO 30 MPH WILL CAUSE BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW ALONG WITH POOR VISIBILITIES AGAIN TONIGHT. BRIEF GUSTS TO OVER 40 MPH ARE ALSO EXPECTED. THERE IS A CHANCE OF NEW SNOWFALL...BUT AMOUNTS SHOULD BE LIGHT...WELL UNDER AN INCH. EXPECT STEADILY FALLING TEMPERATURES OVERNIGHT TO BELOW ZERO BY WEDNESDAY MORNING ALONG WITH WIND CHILL READINGS DROPPING TO 20 TO 30 BELOW ZERO. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY 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. MTZ016-017-020>027-059-060-141200- CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY- WESTERN ROOSEVELT-PETROLEUM-GARFIELD-MCCONE-RICHLAND-DAWSON- PRAIRIE-WIBAUX-NORTHERN PHILLIPS-SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS- 642 AM MST TUE JAN 13 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NORTHWEST WINDS SHIFTING TO NORTH AND INCREASING TO 15 TO 30 MPH WILL CAUSE AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW...AND REDUCED VISIBILITIES AT TIMES AGAIN TONIGHT. BRIEF GUSTS TO OVER 40 MPH ARE ALSO EXPECTED. THERE IS A CHANCE OF NEW SNOWFALL...BUT AMOUNTS SHOULD BE LIGHT...WELL UNDER AN INCH. TEMPERATURES TONIGHT WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY COLDER THAN MONDAY NIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY 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.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
The Bluff Creek RAWS site had several observations with sustained winds of 35 to 50 mph causing significant whiteout conditions. Very little new snow fell, it was mostly ground blizzard conditions with the snow that was already on the ground.
The Montana Department of Transportation Redstone Hill observation site had sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph for several hours. With the snow on the ground, and one to two inches of new snow, whiteout conditions were reported throughout the afternoon.
The Montana Department of Transportation Redstone Hill observation site had sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph for several hours. With the snow on the ground, and one to two inches of new snow, whiteout conditions were reported by law enforcement throughout the afternoon. Highway 5 from Plentywood to Westby was closed due to the severe conditions.
Sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph were reported through the afternoon. Weather spotters reported whiteout conditions for several hours during the event. New snow accumulations were minimal and the ground blizzard conditions were from snow already on the ground.
The Lindsay Divide Department of Transportation site had winds from the northwest at 35 to 45 mph sustained with gusts up to 53 mph for several hours. Combined with the snow on the ground, visibilities were reduced to less than a quarter mile at times.
Montana Department of Transportation observation sites had winds of 35 to 46 mph sustained during the event. New snowfall accumulations were minimal but combined with the snow already on the ground, whiteout conditions occurred throughout the area.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, January 2009
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: 149607, 149608, 149610, 149612, 162411, 149611.