A low level jet streak aligned itself over Montana and the atmosphere favored some mixing of those higher wind speeds down to the surface at times. The associated cold front pushed southward through the region.
Every event with a place to put it; 12 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 low level jet streak aligned itself over Montana and the atmosphere favored some mixing of those higher wind speeds down to the surface at times. The associated cold front pushed southward through the region.
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 Dec 25, 7:52 PM MST, 3 hours 38 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 752 PM MST SUN DEC 25 2011 .SHORT TERM...FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA...TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY... NO UPDATES PLANNED THIS EVENING AS THE FORECAST IS IN GOOD SHAPE. WAITING ON THE WIND TO PICK UP BUT IT WILL HAPPEN PROBABLY AFTER MIDNIGHT. WE WILL SEE TEMPERATURES ACTUALLY WARMING OR STAYING STEADY OVERNIGHT EVEN BEHIND THE FRONT THAT IS MOVING THROUGH. TEMPERATURES AT 850 MB WILL COOL OFF BEHIND THE FRONT WHICH WILL HELP SOME OF THOSE HIGHER WIND SPEEDS REACH THE SURFACE. THEY WILL BE FAIRLY STRONG AT 850 MB. RSMITH PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...STRONG UPPER RIDGE IS BRINGING UNSEASONABLY MILD TEMPERATURES TO MUCH OF NE MT THIS CHRISTMAS. VERY PROMINENT CHINOOK ARCH OVER OUR AREA ON SATELLITE PICTURES. DENSE HIGH CLOUDS FROM IT HAS BEEN VERY PERSISTENT. THIS IS HOLDING TEMPS DOWN QUITE A BIT MORE THAN EXPECTED IN SOME AREAS...ESPECIALLY IN THE VALLEYS N OF MISSOURI RIVER. SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS ARE NOT ORIENTED YET EITHER FOR THESE AREAS TO WARM. STILL DO EXPECT THESE AREAS TO REACH THEIR HIGHS LATE AFTERNOON OR EVENING. SHORTWAVE WEATHER SYSTEM NOW MOVING INTO W MT WILL MOVE ACROSS OUR AREA LATER TONIGHT AND MONDAY. THIS WILL HELP TO MIX OUT THE SHALLOW INVERSIONS. MODELS INDICATE THIS WILL BE A DRY SYSTEM. 850 MB WINDS INCREASE TO 50 TO 65 KT. THIS DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE A QUITE STRONG ENOUGH SYSTEM TO MIX THESE WINDS TO THE SURFACE DURING THE COOL ADVECTION. MOS AND MODEL SPECTRUM INDICATE SUCH...AS WELL AS FORECAST SOUNDINGS...BUT IT WILL BE WINDY. ONE EXCEPTION SW PHILLIPS COUNTY...AS THE LITTLE ROCKIES USUALLY PRODUCE A FEW HOURS OF SUSTAINED 40 MPH WINDS WHEN 850 MB WINDS REACH THESE SPEEDS. IT WILL BE COOLER MONDAY...THE COOL ADVECTION ENDING BY AFTERNOON. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE FROM THE W BRINGS PARTIAL CLEARING AND LIGHT WINDS...COLDER TEMPS MON NIGHT. ANOTHER SHORTWAVE FROM THE W ARRIVES TUESDAY. MOST MODELS HAVE BEEN SHOWING SOME LIGHT QPF AREA LESS THAN A TENTH INCH. SLIGHT CHANCE POPS MOST REASONABLE...WITH BOTH A LITTLE LIGHT RAIN AND SNOW IN OUR AREA. OVERALL SYSTEM APPEARS WEAKER THOUGH...SO LESS WIND THAN TONIGHT/MONDAY. SIMONSEN .LONG TERM...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY... ZONAL FLOW WITH A SERIES OF SHORTWAVES MOVING ACROSS THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST IN THE EXTENDED. MODELS DEVELOPING A LITTLE MORE CONSISTENCY WITH THE TIMING OF THE SHORTWAVES...BUT STILL QUESTIONABLE REGARDING THE POSSIBILITY OF PRECIPITATION. STRONG WESTERLY FLOW KEEPS MUCH OF THE MOISTURE WEST OF THE DIVIDE...BUT MODELS ATTEMPTING TO TURN THE FLOW SLIGHTLY NORTHWEST INTO EASTERN MONTANA AND BRING CLIPPER SYSTEMS INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS. GFS MORE AGGRESSIVE WITH THIS SOLUTION THEN THE ECMWF. BACKED OFF ON POPS SLIGHTLY...CLOSER TO CLIMATOLOGY...GIVEN THE UNCERTAINTY. EBERT PREVIOUS LONG TERM DISCUSSION...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT...THE EXTENDED WILL CONTINUE THE TREND OF FAST MOVING SHORTWAVES IN ZONAL NORTHWEST FLOW ACROSS THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. EACH SHORTWAVE WILL BRING A COLD FRONT AND A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION. MODELS ARE HAVING A HARD TIME AGREEING ON THE TIMING OF THESE FRONTS AND SHORTWAVES. UNCERTAINTY ALSO EXIST ON THE PRECIPITATION TYPE WITH THESE FRONTS MOVING THROUGH THE REGION. JUST LIKE LAST NIGHT DECIDED TO PUT MORE WEIGHT IN THE ECMWF THEN THE GFS FOR THE EXTENDED PERIOD...AS THE ECMWF SEEM TO BE MORE CONSISTENT FROM RUN TO RUN. THE FIRST SYSTEM MOVES THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON WITH A WARM FRONT MOVING THROUGH AND RAISING TEMPERATURES. LOOK STILL FOR A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW ALTHOUGH SOME PLACES WILL SEE MOSTLY RAIN SOUTH OF THE MISSOURI RIVER. A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH ON THURSDAY AFTERNOON WHICH SHOULD CHANGE ANY MIX OF PRECIPITATION OVER TO MOSTLY SNOWFALL BEFORE IT COMES TO AN END THURSDAY NIGHT. UPPED POPS FOR THIS TIME FRAME TO CHANCE BUT THEY ARE STILL FAIRLY LOW AMOUNTS OVERALL. THE NEXT SYSTEM WILL DRAG A COLD FRONT ACROSS EASTERN MONTANA SOMETIME BETWEEN FRIDAY MORNING AND SATURDAY EVENING. THE 00Z GFS IS THE MODELS THAT FAVORS THE FRIDAY MORNING SOLUTION AND THE OOZ ECMWF FAVORS THE SATURDAY EVENING SOLUTION. THE 00Z GEM IS SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN WITH THIS FRONTAL PASSAGE. THE ECMWF IS ALSO MUCH STRONGER WITH CAA ADVECTION BEHIND THIS COLD FRONT WHICH FITS WITH THIS TIME OF THE YEAR BETTER THEN THE WEAKER GFS. THE 00Z GEM IS STRONGER THEN THE 00Z GFS WITH THE CAA BEHIND THE FRONT BUT NOT AS STRONG AS THE 00Z ECMWF. GIVEN THE DIFFERENCE IN MODEL SOLUTIONS DECIDED NOT TO MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE FORECAST PAST FRIDAY MORNING. RSMITH && .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OVERNIGHT AND MONDAY WITH SCATTERED TO BROKEN HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS AT ALL TERMINALS. WEST WINDS 15 TO 25 KNOTS WILL DEVELOP AFTER 06Z. THE WIND WILL BECOME NORTHWEST AROUND 18Z MONDAY AND DIMINISH MONDAY EVENING. && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 6 AM MST MONDAY FOR SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS. && WEATHER.GOV/GLASGOW
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 527 PM MST SUN DEC 25 2011 MTZ060-261100- SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS- 527 PM MST SUN DEC 25 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM TONIGHT UNTIL 6 AM MONDAY. WEST WINDS 30 TO 40 MPH...WITH A FEW GUSTS AS HIGH AS 60 MPH ARE EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY 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>027-059-061-062-261100- CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY- DANIELS-SHERIDAN-WESTERN ROOSEVELT-PETROLEUM-GARFIELD-MCCONE- RICHLAND-DAWSON-PRAIRIE-WIBAUX-NORTHERN PHILLIPS-NORTHERN VALLEY- EASTERN ROOSEVELT- 527 PM MST SUN DEC 25 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT WEST WINDS 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 40 MPH WILL DEVELOP BETWEEN 9 PM AND MIDNIGHT THIS EVENING. THE STRONG WEST WINDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY 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.
12 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Sustained winds above 40 mph were common across the area. A peak wind gust of 63 mph was measured at the Malta South US-191 DOT site at 5:38 AM MST.
Sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph were common across the county. A peak wind gust of 58 mph was measured at the South Sawmill RAWS site at 2:25 AM MST.
Sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph were common across the county over multiple hours. A maximum sustained wind speed of 36 mph was measured at 4:15 AM MST and a peak wind gust of 56 mph was measured at 3:15 AM at the Malta Airport AWOS site.
Sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph were common across the county for multiple hours with maximum sustained winds of 36 mph measured at the Saco US-2 DOT site at 4:26 AM MST.
Sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph were measured across the county with a peak wind gust of 62 mph measured at the Scobey Airport AWOS sometime between 3:00 AM and 4:00 AM MST.
Sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph were common across the county. A peak wind gust of 58 mph was measured at the Bluff Creek RAWS site sometime between 3:45 AM and 4:45 AM MST.
Sustained winds up to 45 mph were measured during multiple hours across the county with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph measured at the Comertown Turn-Off DOT site at 11:30 AM MST.
Sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph were common across the county with maximum sustained winds of 38 mph measured at the Cow Creek DOT site sometime between 7:05 AM and 8:05 AM MST.
Sustained winds above 40 mph were common across the county with maximum sustained winds of 48 mph measured at the McDonald's DOT site 6:51 AM MST.
Sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph were measured at both the Dawson Community Airport (KGDV) AWOS site and the Lindsay Divide DOT site.
Sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph were measured during multiple hours across the county with maximum sustained winds of 43 mph measured at the Sioux Pass DOT site at 7:19 AM MST.
Sustained winds near or above 40 mph were measured by the DOT site at Beaver Hill, with the highest sustained speed of 42 mph measured at 1:14 PM MST.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, December 2011
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: 357909, 357910, 357911, 357907, 357903, 357908, 357902, 357905, 357904, 357899, 357901, 357898.