West to northwest of winds of just 15 mph were enough to cause tremendous drifting on north-south highways. e.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
West to northwest of winds of just 15 mph were enough to cause tremendous drifting on north-south highways. In some cases, the highways were closed (i.e. Highway 13 between Scobey and Wolf Point).
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 3, 3:50 AM MST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 350 AM MST THU FEB 3 2011 .SHORT TERM...FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA...TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY... ANOTHER SHORT MID-WINTER BREAK OCCURRING AGAIN TODAY. LARGE- SCALE PATTERN REMAINING VERY PERSISTENT WITH LONG-LASTING UPPER HIGH ALONG PACIFIC COAST...WITH NE MT IN ACTIVE NW FLOW ALOFT AROUND IT. THIS FLOW LEAVES OUR AREA WIDE OPEN TO ANOTHER ARCTIC BLAST OVER THE WEEKEND THOUGH...AND INCREASING SHORTWAVE ACTIVITY. THE WARMEST OF THE AIRMASS WILL BE OVER US TODAY WITH 850 MB TEMPS AS HIGH AS 6C. REMAINS OF ARCTIC AIR AT THE SURFACE CONTINUING TO STEADILY SHALLOW OUT AS MODERATE WEST WINDS BLOW JUST OFF THE SURFACE. MOST OF CWA HAS WARMED DRAMATICALLY OVER THE PAST 24 HOURS...MORE THAN 50F IN SOME PLACES. THIS HAS LEFT ONLY THE LOWER MILK AND LOWER MISSOURI RIVER VALLEYS STILL IN A VERY SHALLOW INVERSION EXPECT THIS TREND TO CONTINUE WHICH WILL ALLOW THESE PLACES TO WARM A LOT ALSO. THE WEST WINDS HAVE BEEN CAUSING SEVERE GROUND DRIFTING IN SOME LOCATIONS...MAINLY GOING N OF GLASGOW AND WOLF POINT TO CANADA BORDER ACCORDING TO MDT ROAD REPORT. PRESSURE GRADIENTS STARTING TO WEAKEN AS WEAK SHORTWAVE EXITS OUR AREA...AND THIS TREND TO CONTINUE THE REST OF DAY. WILL CONTINUE TO ISSUE NOWCASTS AS NEEDED FOR THIS. SATELLITE CHANNELS SHOW A WEAK SHORTWAVE EXITING OUR SE EARLY THIS MORNING. LARGE AREA OF CLEAR SKIES MOVING IN FROM THE NW BEHIND IT TODAY. A LITTLE STRONGER SHORTWAVE ARRIVES FRIDAY...AND ANOTHER FRIDAY NIGHT. MODELS TRENDING A LITTLE STRONGER THAN PREVIOUS RUNS IN OUR E FRI AFTERNOON. IT APPEARS THE AIRMASS ALOFT WILL BE ALMOST AS WARM AS TODAY...PREFER THE GFS ON THIS. THIS MEANS THAT ANY PRECIP WILL BE STARTING AS RAIN IN MOST AREAS...BUT A THREAT OF A LITTLE FREEZING RAIN IN OUR N YET. THEN DURING THE NIGHT...JUST ENOUGH COOLING ALOFT AND LOWER LEVELS FOR A CHANCE OF BOTH SNOW AND FREEZING RAIN. THE MORE SIGNIFICANT SHORTWAVE ARRIVES SAT FOR A GREATER THREAT OF SNOW. MODELS ARE MUCH FASTER...BUT LESS DISTINCT WITH THE ARCTIC FRONT RACING AHEAD OF THE MAIN COLD PUSH EARLY SAT. THIS IS JUST THE LEADING EDGE OF ANOTHER VERY COLD ARCTIC AIRMASS DEVELOPING OVER THE YUKON. 850 MB N WINDS UP TO 35 KT BEHIND THE FRONT. IT APPEARS COLD ADVECTION AND LOWER LEVEL PRESSURE GRADIENTS WILL RESULT IN A PERIOD OF DRY ADIABATIC LAPSES RATES SAT AFTERNOON...MIXING TO NEAR 850 MB. THIS WILL MEAN BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW LIKELY TO BE A MAJOR PROBLEM AGAIN. SIMONSEN .LONG TERM...SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY... MODELS ARE IN FAIR AGREEMENT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE EXTENDED PERIOD WITH NORTH TO NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT SNOW AND COOLING TEMPERATURES SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING. HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN ON THE SURFACE SUNDAY AND IS CENTERED OVER NORTHEASTERN MONTANA MONDAY MORNING FOR ANOTHER VERY CHILLY MORNING. CONTINUED THE TREND OF WELL BELOW GUIDANCE TEMPERATURE READINGS MONDAY MORNING. MODELS ARE IN FAIR AGREEMENT IN DRY THE ATMOSPHERE OVER THE REGION. AFTER MONDAY AFTERNOON CONFIDENCE IN THE FORECAST GETS LOWER AND LOWER AS THE ENSEMBLE GFS SHOWS MULTIPLE FORECAST OPTIONS. THE PATTERN WILL CONTINUE WITH THE STRONG NORTH NORTHWEST FLOW AND SHORTWAVES MOVING THROUGH IT. WHICH WILL BRING UNSETTLED WEATHER TO THE REGION. WILL KEEP ANY POPS LOW AND MODERATE TEMPERATURES SOME SINCE THE GFS AND EC ARE NOT TIMING THE WAVES AND COLD PUSHES WELL AT ALL. PROTON && .AVIATION... VFR. ONLY ISSUES WILL BE LLWS FOR LANDING STRIPS ALONG THE RIVER BOTTOMS THIS MORNING. ONCE THE AIR MASS MIXES OUT THIS MORNING LLWS PROBABILITIES WILL DIMINISH. PROTON && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && WEATHER.GOV/GLASGOW
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 359 AM MST THU FEB 3 2011 MTZ016>027-059>062-041100- CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY- DANIELS-SHERIDAN-WESTERN ROOSEVELT-PETROLEUM-GARFIELD-MCCONE- RICHLAND-DAWSON-PRAIRIE-WIBAUX-NORTHERN PHILLIPS- SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS-NORTHERN VALLEY-EASTERN ROOSEVELT- 359 AM MST THU FEB 3 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF LIGHT SNOW AND FREEZING RAIN FRIDAY NIGHT...BUT A GREATER THREAT OF SNOW SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT. THIS WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY WINDY WEATHER SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING ...CAUSING AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW...FOLLOWED BY A RETURN TO VERY COLD TEMPERATURES SUNDAY AND MONDAY. PERSONS PLANNING TRAVEL THIS WEEKEND SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR HAZARDOUS...AND POSSIBLY DIFFICULT DRIVING CONDITIONS. .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.
2 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Highway 13 was closed from Scobey to Wolf Point due to large drifts across the highway.
Highway 13 was closed from Scobey to Wolf Point due to large drifts across the highway.
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: 270856, 270857.