Deep low surface pressure moving across southern Canada contributed to high winds along the Northern Rocky Mountain Front. Wind gusts in excess of 70 mph were reported.
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.
Deep low surface pressure moving across southern Canada contributed to high winds along the Northern Rocky Mountain Front. Wind gusts in excess of 70 mph were reported.
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 Mar 11, 10:08 AM MST, 52 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 1008 AM MST THU MAR 11 2010 .UPDATE... TODAY...AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE STRENGTHENED OVER THE ZONES LAST NIGHT AND THE AIRMASS WILL CONTINUE TO WARM AND DRY TODAY. MOISTURE MOVING INTO THE RIDGE SHOULD MOSTLY REMAIN WEST OF THE DIVIDE. WINDS ACROSS THE ROCKIES AND ADJACENT PLAINS ARE OF INTEREST. A BIT OF AN INVERSION SHOULD DEVELOP ALONG THE SLOPES OF THE ROCKIES. WINDS SHOULD NOT BE PARTICULARLY STRONG ACROSS THE ZONES ALTHOUGH THE PRESENCE OF THE INVERSION SHOULD BRING SOME STRONG WINDS ACROSS THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. WILL BUMP WINDS UP ACROSS THE NORTHWEST ZONES TODAY...AND ALSO TONIGHT. WILL ISSUE A HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE NORTHERN ROCKIES THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT...BEST CHANCE FOR HIGH WINDS AROUND MIDNIGHT. WILL ALSO BUMP TEMPS A BIT ACROSS THE PLAINS AND REMOVE MORNING FOG. ZELZER && .AVIATION... UPDATED 1120Z. WIDESPREAD CLEAR SKIES COVER MUCH OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MT THIS MORNING AS RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE IS OVERHEAD. STILL HAVE POSSIBILITY FOR PATCHY FOG AROUND SUNRISE NEAR KHVR...BUT NOT ENOUGH CERTAINTY TO INCLUDE IN LATEST TAF. EXPECT VFR CONDITIONS TODAY WITH JUST SOME SCATTERED CLOUDS ABOVE FL200. WEST-SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL BECOME BREEZY FROM KGTF TO KCTB...WITH GUSTS OF 25 TO 30 KTS THIS AFTN...THEN DECREASING AROUND SUNSET. WARANAUSKAS && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 420 AM MST THU MAR 11 2010/ THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL STAY OVERHEAD FOR TODAY AND MUCH OF FRIDAY. TEMPERATURES DURING THIS TIME WILL CONTINUE TO RISE. SKIES SHOULD BE RELATIVELY CLEAR THROUGH THIS TIME FRAME. A WEAK PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL WORK ITS WAY INTO OUR AREA BY FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY. THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL DOES NOT APPEAR TO BRING TOO MUCH MOISTURE INTO NORTH CENTRAL AND CENTRAL MONTANA...HOWEVER SOME SLIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED OVER THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND THE MOUNTAINS IN SOUTHWEST MONTANA. THE LATEST MODEL RUNS HAVE DECREASED THE AMOUNT OF PRECIP FROM THIS SYSTEM SO NO WINTER HIGHLITES ARE EXPECTED AT THIS TIME FOR THIS STORM SYSTEM. SUK SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT...UPPER LEVEL TROF THAT ARRIVES EARLIER IN THE DAY ON SATURDAY SHOULD GRADUALLY WEAKEN ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MT BY SAT NIGHT AS MUCH OF ITS ENERGY AND MOISTURE DIVE SOUTHWARD TOWARD THE FOUR CORNERS AREA. RESIDUAL MOISTURE AND SLIGHTLY UNSTABLE AIRMASS WILL GENERATE ISOLATED SNOWSHOWERS OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS AND SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE SOUTHWEST PORTIONS OF THE CWA BEFORE TAPERING OFF EARLY SUN MORNING. AS THE TROF DEPARTS...LARGE PACIFIC HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE WILL BUILD STEADILY OVER THE GREAT BASIN AND NRN ROCKIES STARTING SUNDAY AFTN...PRODUCING MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES AND LIGHT WINDS THROUGH TUESDAY. EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO BE NEAR TYPICAL SEASONAL VALUES ON SUN AS COOL AIRMASS ASSOCIATED WITH THE UPPER LEVEL TROF BEGINS TO MODERATE. PLEASANT SPRING-LIKE CONDITIONS RETURN WITH AFTN HIGHS REACHING 10 TO 12 DEG ABOVE NORMAL ON MON AND 15 TO 18 DEG ABOVE NORMAL ON TUES. EXCEPTION WILL BE HILL AND NORTHERN BLAINE COUNTIES WHERE CURRENT SNOWCOVER...THOUGH MELTING...WILL STILL BE SUFFICIENT TO KEEP TEMPS ABOUT 10 TO 15 DEG COOLER THAN SURROUNDING AREAS. WARANAUSKAS WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...MODELS SHOW AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH OVER THE INTER-MOUNTAIN WEST. DOWNSLOPE FLOW ON WEDNESDAY WILL RESULT IN MOSTLY DRY AND SEASONABLY MILD TEMPERATURES. BOTH GFS AND ECMWF MODELS SHOW A PACIFIC COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...BRINGING GUSTY WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS. TEMPERATURES WILL COOL TO BELOW SEASONAL LEVELS OVER NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA AND NEAR SEASONAL AVERAGE ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST BY THURSDAY. THERE WILL ALSO BE ISOLATED SNOW SHOWERS ACROSS THE VALLEYS AND PLAINS WITH SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE MOUNTAINS. WILLIAMSON DC && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GTF 51 33 60 35 / 0 0 0 0 CTB 49 28 56 29 / 0 0 0 10 HLN 49 27 56 30 / 0 0 0 10 BZN 44 21 51 26 / 0 0 0 0 WEY 35 11 43 16 / 0 10 0 10 DLN 44 25 52 28 / 0 0 0 10 HVR 35 14 37 18 / 0 0 0 0 LWT 44 26 54 28 / 0 0 0 0 && .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 5 AM MST FRIDAY NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT. && WEATHER.GOV/GREATFALLS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED UPDATE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 1006 AM MST THU MAR 11 2010 MTZ009-121715- NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT- 1006 AM MST THU MAR 11 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A HIGH WIND WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 AM MST FRIDAY. WINDS WILL GUST TO NEAR 60 MPH TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT. STRONGEST WINDS WILL OCCUR DURING THE NIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY 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. MTZ008-010>015-044>055-121715- BEAVERHEAD-EASTERN GLACIER-HILL-CASCADE-CHOUTEAU- CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN LEWIS AND CLARK-MADISON-TOOLE-LIBERTY- EASTERN PONDERA-BLAINE-SOUTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT- EASTERN TETON-JUDITH BASIN-FERGUS-JEFFERSON-BROADWATER-MEAGHER- GALLATIN- 1006 AM MST THU MAR 11 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL MONTANA...NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY 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 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A wind gust to 84 mph was reported at St. Mary 14SW (the Logan Pass Visitor Center in Glacier National Park).
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, March 2010
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: 214913.