A strong westerly flow aloft resulted in high surface winds along the Rocky Mountain Front and over portions of southwest Montana. Wind gusts in excess of 60 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.
A strong westerly flow aloft resulted in high surface winds along the Rocky Mountain Front and over portions of southwest Montana. Wind gusts in excess of 60 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 9, 2:23 PM MST, 1 hour 58 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 223 PM MST WED MAR 9 2011 .DISCUSSION... WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...A DECENT PRESSURE GRADIENT BETWEEN THE HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE OVER CALIFORNIA AND THE UPPER LEVEL LOW ACROSS MICHIGAN WILL CONTINUE TO YIELD CHINOOK WINDS FOR MUCH OF OUR AREA TODAY. MOIST OF THE MOISTURE TAP ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE RIDGE WILL STAY TO THE SOUTH OF THE AREA GIVING NO SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL FOR MOST OF THE AREA WITH ONLY THE MOUNTAINS OF SOUTHWEST MONTANA HAVING A DECENT CHANCE OF NEW SNOWFALL. TEMPERATURES ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL AND CENTRAL MONTANA SHOULD CLIMB DUE TO THE CHINOOK WINDS. HYDROLOGIC ISSUES COULD ARISE FROM THESE WARMER TEMPERATURES DUE TO THE DECENT SNOWPACK ACROSS THE HIGHLINE. OTHERWISE THE ONLY MAJOR HAZARDOUS WEATHER HIGHLITE WILL BE THE HIGH WIND WARNING OCCURRING ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT WHERE CHINOOK WINDS SHOULD BE AT THEIR STRONGEST. TEMPERATURES WILL STAY RELATIVELY MILD OVERNIGHT AND INCREASE AGAIN TOMORROW. A WEAK SHORTWAVE WILL IMPACT THE AREA THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY...BRINGING ANOTHER CHANCE OF SNOW ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN REGIONS. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE AFOREMENTIONED HIGH WINDS AND POSSIBLE HYDROLOGIC COMPLICATIONS...NO SIGNIFICANT WEATHER IS EXPECTED. SUK FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...A RATHER SEASONABLE PERIOD OF WEATHER IS EXPECTED OVER THE REGION THIS WEEKEND AND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO START A SLOW WARMING TREND ON SATURDAY...RECOVERING A BIT FROM THE COOLER DAY ON FRIDAY. GENERALLY SEASONABLE TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE REGION FOR THE FIRST HALF OF NEXT WEEK. IN TERMS OF PRECIPITATION...THERE WILL BE A FEW UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES THAT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. AS A RESULT...MOST OF THE PRECIPITATION WILL BE CONFINED TO THE WESTERN AND SOUTHWESTERN MOUNTAINS...WITH A FEW ISOLATED SHOWERS POSSIBLE IN THE SOUTHWEST VALLEYS. ON WEDNESDAY...A BIT STRONGER DISTURBANCE IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE REGION...THUS THERE WILL BE A CHANCE FOR PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION. AGAIN...AT THIS TIME NONE OF THESE STORM SYSTEMS LOOK TO BE VERY STRONG...BUT SOME ACCUMULATING MOUNTAIN SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED THIS WEEKEND AND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK...WITH LITTLE TO NO SNOW ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED AT LOWER ELEVATIONS. BRUSDA && .AVIATION... UPDATED 1800Z. A RATHER BROAD BUT THIN CHINOOK ARCH HAS DEVELOPED ALONG THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT THIS MORNING INDICATING THAT WINDS HAVE INCREASED IN THESE AREAS. A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT WITH STRONG WIND GUSTS UP TO 65KTS THROUGH FAVORED MOUNTAIN PASSES AND CANYONS. AT AREA TAF SITES OVER NORTH-CENTRAL MONTANA INCLUDING KCTB...KGTF AND KHVR...WESTERLY WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE WITH WIND GUSTS UP TO 35KTS POSSIBLE. CLOUDS WILL INCREASE AND THICKEN THIS AFTERNOON AS WEAK SHORTWAVE ENERGY MOVES OVER THE REGION. DOWNSLOPE WINDS WILL KEEP NORTH-CENTRAL AND CENTRAL MONTANA DRY...HOWEVER SOME MOUNTAIN SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE NEAR TERMINALS KHLN AND KBZN SO ADDED VCSH AFTER 000Z. MOUNTAIN OBSCURATION IS ALSO EXPECTED LATER THIS EVENING THROUGH TONIGHT. MLS && .HYDROLOGY... TEMPERATURES WILL WARM INTO THE UPPER 40S TO AROUND 50 AT LOWER ELEVATIONS ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. AREA RIVERS AND STREAMS WILL LIKELY RISE AS SNOWMELT RUNS OFF. IN ADDITION...THE WARMER TEMPERATURES MAY ALSO INCREASE THE POTENTIAL FOR ICE JAMS AS RIVER ICE BREAKS UP. TEMPERATURES WILL COOL BACK TO NEAR SEASONAL AVERAGES LATER THIS WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GTF 36 52 32 43 / 20 10 30 10 CTB 34 46 31 38 / 20 20 20 20 HLN 33 55 33 45 / 20 20 60 20 BZN 27 53 32 43 / 20 10 80 30 WEY 22 38 21 30 / 70 60 100 50 DLN 30 48 30 40 / 20 20 70 20 HVR 32 43 30 33 / 10 10 20 20 LWT 35 51 33 42 / 10 0 40 20 && .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 5 AM MST FRIDAY NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT...SOUTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT. && SHORT TERM...SUK LONG TERM...BRUSDA AVIATION...MLS WEATHER.GOV/GREATFALLS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 610 AM MST WED MAR 9 2011 MTZ009-048-101200- NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT-SOUTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT- 610 AM MST WED MAR 9 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT WILL BE IN EFFECT AT 12 PM MST TODAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THE HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 AM MST FRIDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. MTZ008-010>015-044>047-049>055-101200- BEAVERHEAD-EASTERN GLACIER-HILL-CASCADE-CHOUTEAU- CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN LEWIS AND CLARK-MADISON-TOOLE-LIBERTY- EASTERN PONDERA-BLAINE-EASTERN TETON-JUDITH BASIN-FERGUS- JEFFERSON-BROADWATER-MEAGHER-GALLATIN- 610 AM MST WED MAR 9 2011 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...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY 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.
5 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A wind gust to 58 mph was reported at East Glacier Park 1E (the Two Medicine DOT site). Sustained winds speeds of 48 mph were also reported for more than one hour.
A wind gust to 61 mph was reported at Bynum 14W (the Dellwo MSCN site).
A wind gust to 65 mph was reported at McAllister 4NNE (the Norris Hill DOT site).
A wind gust to 67 mph was reported at Cascade 1SW.
A wind gust to 74 mph was reported at Big Sky 7S (the Yellow Mule RAWS site - elevation 9200 feet).
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, March 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: 286105, 286108, 286107, 286106, 286109.