The combination snow and blowing snow brought winter storm conditions to most of the area except for Garfield and Petroleum counties.
Every event with a place to put it; 11 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.
The combination snow and blowing snow brought winter storm conditions to most of the area except for Garfield and Petroleum counties.
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 Feb 16, 9:03 PM MST, 2 hours 57 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 903 PM MST WED FEB 16 2011 .SHORT TERM...FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA...TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY... A COLD FRONT WITH OVERRUNNING MOISTURE HAS MOVED INTO CENTRAL MONTANA AND WILL CONTINUE INTO NORTHEAST MONTANA LATER TONIGHT. FORECAST AND WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY APPEAR TO BE ON-TRACK WITH SOME GRID EDITS TO ADJUSTMENT TEMPERATURES AND POPS...BASED ON LATEST GUIDANCE AND OBSERVATIONS. TEMPERATURES UPSTREAM IN ALBERTA HAVE ALREADY DROPPED BELOW 0*F. MODELS SUGGEST THIS COLD AIR ADVECTION WILL LOWER TEMPERATURES BELOW THE INHERITED FORECAST...SO LOWERED ACCORDINGLY. RADAR IMAGERY SHOWS A FOCUSED LINE OF SNOW SHOWERS NEAR HAVRE...SO INCREASED EVENING POPS TO CHANCE IN THE WEST AND INCREASED POPS AFTER MIDNIGHT. NO REPORTS OF RAIN...SO REMOVED FROM WX GRIDS. SCT PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... UPPER TROF PUSHING INTO THE WEST COAST WITH SHORTWAVE EJECTING INTO MONTANA TONIGHT. WEAK COLD FRONT OVER MONTANA WILL SEE A WAVE MOVE ALONG IT TONIGHT. COLD AIR WILL POUR INTO THE STATE BEHIND THIS WAVE AND WITH MOISTURE RIDING OVER THE FRONT IN THE SOUTHWEST FLOW...SHOULD HAVE A BAND OF SNOW DEVELOP. BAND MOVES THROUGH FAIRLY QUICKLY SO SNOW AMOUNTS WILL BE LIMITED TO AROUND 2 INCHES FOR MOST AREAS. EXCEPTION WILL BE THE FAR NORTHEAST WHERE UP TO 5 INCHES IS POSSIBLE. WINDS INCREASE BEHIND THE FRONT AS WELL...FOR POTENTIAL BLOWING SNOW AS WELL. VISIBILITIES WILL BE REDUCED TO THE GREATEST EXTENT WITH THE HEAVIEST SNOW BUT SHOULDN/T LAST VERY LONG. HAVE ISSUED WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR ALL ZONES FOR TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON. STORM MOVES OFF TO THE EAST LATE THURSDAY WITH ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE PUSHING INTO THE STATE. SHOULD SEE TEMPERATURES FALLING MOST OF THE DAY ON THURSDAY...WITH COLD AIR LINGERING INTO FRIDAY. COULD ALSO SEE A LITTLE UPSLOPE SNOW INTO THE SOUTHWEST THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. EBERT .LONG TERM...FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY... LONG TERM FORECAST REMAINS PRETTY MUCH THE SAME AS IT WAS LAST NIGHT WITH ONLY SOME MINOR POP TWEAKS AND A FEW TEMPERATURE CHANGES. DID REDUCE THE TEMPERATURES SLIGHTLY SATURDAY NIGHT...SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT. THE ECMWF IS COLDER THEN THE OPERATIONAL GFS FOR THE SAME TIME FRAME AND THE GFS ENSEMBLE MEMBERS ARE STARTING TO GO COLDER SO DECIDED TO LOWER TEMPS A FEW DEGREES ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE NORTHERN ZONE. BOTH THE GFS AND THE ECMWF SHOW ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL STARTING SATURDAY NIGHT AND LASTING INTO SUNDAY MORNING AS UPPER LOW MOVES NORTHEAST FROM THE GREAT BASIN TO THE NORTHERN PLAINS. MONDAY AFTERNOON THINGS SHOULD DRY OUT SOMEWHAT AND BOTH GFS AND ECMWF SHOW THIS TREND. UNFORTUNATELY ON TUESDAY THE MODELS DIVERGE SOMEWHAT. THE GFS BRING ANOTHER SYSTEM THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT AND THE ECMWF SHOWS A SIMILAR TREND BUT WITHOUT AS MUCH QPF. SO DECIDED TO LEAVE THE FORECAST ALONG PAST MONDAY NIGHT. RSMITH PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM CURRENTLY SPINNING OFF THE WEST COAST OF CANADA WILL DROP SOUTH TO AN AREA OFF THE COAST OF CALIFORNIA BY FRIDAY NIGHT. CONCURRENTLY A POLAR VORTEX SPINNING ACROSS THE NORTHERN CANADIAN PRAIRIE WILL PUSH A MODIFIED ARCTIC BOUNDARY SOUTH OF NEMONT. MOISTURE EJECTED BY THE WEST COAST LOW INTO THE VICINITY OF THE BOUNDARY WILL CREATE OVERCAST AND POSSIBLY INTERMITTENT SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE LOCAL AREA THROUGH SATURDAY. THE PACIFIC LOW MOVES ONSHORE AND INTO THE DESERT SOUTHWEST SUNDAY AND THEN INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS BY MONDAY NIGHT. THIS LOW CONTINUE TO EJECT MOISTURE NORTH INTO NEMONT AS THE ARCTIC BOUNDARY FLUCTUATES. THIS WILL BRING ON A SLIGHTLY BETTER CHANCE FOR SNOW SHOWERS. ANOTHER PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM MOVES ALONG THE WEST COAST MONDAY AND POSSIBLY ASHORE BY TUESDAY. THE MODELS AGREE WITH A LARGE SYSTEM BUT DISAGREE ON ITS MOVEMENT. THE GFS BRINGS THE UPPER TROUGH ACROSS THE DIVIDE WHILE THE ECMWF KEEPS THE STORM TO THE WEST OF THE DIVIDE AND MORE TO THE SOUTH. THE GEM SIDES WITH THE GFS. SO WILL AMP UP POPS A BIT. HOWEVER THE INCREASING UNCERTAINTY DURING THE LATER PERIODS WITH ONE MODEL SHOWING HIGH POPS AND THE OTHER MOSTLY DRY...WILL GO WITH A BLEND FOR NOW. THE COLDEST TEMPERATURES WILL BE IN THE INITIAL EXTENDED PERIODS. THEN A RETURN TO MORE SEASONAL TEMPERATURES IS EXPECTED SUNDAY AND BEYOND. SCT && .AVIATION... VFR THIS EVENING GIVING WAY TO MVFR CONDITIONS FROM WEST TO EAST THROUGH MIDNIGHT ACROSS NORTHEAST MONTANA AS LOWER CEILINGS AND SNOW MOVE INTO THE REGION. OVERNIGHT EXPECT CONDITIONS TO DROP TO LOW MVFR TO IFR AT MOST LOCATIONS...AND FOR THE DAY ON THURSDAY EXPECT IFR TO LIFR WITH MODERATE NORTHWEST WIND 15 TO 25 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS. PROTON && .HYDROLOGY... FLOODING CONTINUES ON THE MUSSELSHELL RIVER ALONG THE PETROLEUM/GARFIELD COUNTY LINE. THIS WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT INTO THURSDAY AND WILL BEGIN TO FALL BELOW FLOOD STAGE LATER ON THURSDAY AS COLDER AIR WORKS IT/S WAY INTO THE REGION. THE MILK RIVER AT DODSON HAS ROSE TO 16 FEET THIS EVENING AND IS EXPECTED TO CREST AT 16.7 FEET BY MID DAY ON THURSDAY. IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT AT THE DODSON DAM REPORTS 2500 CFS PEAK FLOW TODAY OVER THE NORMAL 700 CFS AND ELEVATED RIVER LEVELS. BELOW DODSON THE MILK RIVER IS FROZEN OVER AND SOME ICE JAMS ARE POSSIBLE TONIGHT...HOWEVER NOT EXPECTED TO CAUSE ANY MAJOR PROBLEMS AT THIS TIME. COLDER AIR AND WINTRY CONDITIONS WILL ASSIST IN STOPPING THE UPSTREAM SNOW MELT WHICH HAS CAUSED THE TROUBLE IN THE MILK RIVER. SEE THE LATEST RIVER STATEMENT GTFRVSGGW FOR MORE DETAILS. PROTON && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL NOON MST THURSDAY FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS...CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY...PETROLEUM... GARFIELD...NORTHERN PHILLIPS...SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS...NORTHERN VALLEY. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 4 AM TO 3 PM MST THURSDAY FOR MCCONE...DAWSON...PRAIRIE...WIBAUX. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 2 AM TO 7 PM MST THURSDAY FOR DANIELS...SHERIDAN...WESTERN ROOSEVELT...RICHLAND...EASTERN ROOSEVELT. && WEATHER.GOV/GLASGOW
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 319 PM MST WED FEB 16 2011 MTZ016>020-023>027-059>062-172230- CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY- DANIELS-SHERIDAN-WESTERN ROOSEVELT-MCCONE-RICHLAND-DAWSON-PRAIRIE- WIBAUX-NORTHERN PHILLIPS-SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS-NORTHERN VALLEY- EASTERN ROOSEVELT- 319 PM MST WED FEB 16 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR LATE TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING FOR 2 TO 5 INCHES OF NEW SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON. MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED INTO NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. MTZ021-022-172230- PETROLEUM-GARFIELD- 319 PM MST WED FEB 16 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON FOR MOST OF PETROLEUM COUNTY AND THE MUSSELSHELL RIVER ALONG THE PETROLEUM/GARFIELD COUNTY LINE. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR LATE TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING FOR UP TO 2 INCHES OF NEW SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY FLOODING WILL LINGER ACROSS PETROLEUM COUNTY AND ON THE MUSSELSHELL RIVER THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. COLDER TEMPERATURES WILL REDUCE SNOW MELT RUNOFF AND ALLOW FLOODING TO GRADUALLY DIMINISH. .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.
11 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Spotters reported about 4 inches of new snow with 20 to 35 mph winds and visibilities less than 1/2 mile.
Spotters reported 4 to 5 inches of new snow and strong winds. This created whiteout conditions in places.
Generally 4 inches of new snow fell across the area combined with 30 to 40 mph winds. Whiteout conditions were also observed.
Three to five inches of new snow fell while winds of 20 to 30 mph created extreme drifting and blowing.
Several inches of new snow combined with winds of 20 to 40 mph brought visibilities below a 1/2 a mile.
Several inches of new snow combined with winds of 20 to 40 mph brought visibilities below a 1/2 a mile across the county.
Several inches of new snow combined with winds of 20 to 40 mph brought visibilities below a 1/2 a mile across the county.
Two inches of snow combined with the loose snow and winds of 25 to over 35 mph made for dangerous conditions with visibilities less than 1/2 a mile and significant drifting.
Several inches of new snow combined with winds of 20 to 40 mph brought visibilities below a 1/2 a mile.
Several inches of new snow combined with winds of 20 to 40 mph brought visibilities below a 1/2 a mile. Whiteout conditions were also reported.
Several inches of new snow combined with winds of 20 to 40 mph brought visibilities below a 1/2 a mile across the county.
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, February 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: 284453, 284454, 284455, 284456, 284471, 284474, 284475, 284469, 284470, 284472, 284473.