Heavy Snow in Montana, November 16 to 18, 2011

Name: Heavy Snow in Montana, November 16 to 18, 2011
Start: 2011-11-16T10:00
End: 2011-11-18T20:27
Location: Montana

November 16 to 18, 2011 · NWS MSO · 16 events in 4 counties and zones

A series of weather disturbances moved across western Montana over a couple of days. Abundant moisture was associated with these disturbances along with a very strong jet steam.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 16 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 16

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS MSO wrote it up.

A series of weather disturbances moved across western Montana over a couple of days. Abundant moisture was associated with these disturbances along with a very strong jet steam. Many locations received heavy snow, especially in the mountains. As the warm and moist air moved into western Montana, pockets of cold air were trapped in some valleys, producing a good freezing rain scenario. In addition a strong surge of cold arctic air moved across the divide to interact with the warm moist air and produce heavy snow.

What forecasters said that day

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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 16, 4:13 AM MST, 5 hours 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 16, 4:13 AM MST, 5 hours 47 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

16 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Lower Clark Fork Region

When: November 16, 10:00 AM MST to November 17, 10:00 AM MST
Where: Lower Clark Fork Region forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 47.286, -114.685 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The public estimated 12 inches of snow in 24 hours at Lookout Pass, 5 miles WNW of Taft Montana.

Heavy Snow, Potomac / Seeley Lake Region

When: November 17, 12:00 AM MST to 8:08 AM MST
Where: Potomac / Seeley Lake Region forecast zone
Reported by: Park/Forest Service
Coordinates: 46.986, -113.597 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy snow of 3 inches was measured 12 miles W of Ovando at Clearwater Junction.

Heavy Snow, Potomac / Seeley Lake Region

When: November 17, 12:00 AM MST to 8:15 AM MST
Where: Potomac / Seeley Lake Region forecast zone
Reported by: Park/Forest Service
Coordinates: 46.986, -113.597 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A trained spotter measured 3 inches of snow 1 mile NW of Seeley Lake.

Heavy Snow, Kootenai/Cabinet Region

When: November 17, 12:00 AM MST to 8:15 AM MST
Where: Kootenai/Cabinet Region forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 48.171, -114.863 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A spotter 3 miles N of Eureka measured 4 inches of snow.

Heavy Snow, Potomac / Seeley Lake Region

When: November 17, 12:00 AM MST to 8:45 AM MST
Where: Potomac / Seeley Lake Region forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 46.986, -113.597 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A spotter in Seeley Lake measured 3 inches of snow.

Heavy Snow, Potomac / Seeley Lake Region

When: November 17, 12:00 AM MST to 8:45 AM MST
Where: Potomac / Seeley Lake Region forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 46.986, -113.597 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A spotter 2 miles SE of Seeley Lake measured 4 inches of snow.

Heavy Snow, Kootenai/Cabinet Region

When: November 17, 12:00 AM MST to 9:00 AM MST
Where: Kootenai/Cabinet Region forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 48.171, -114.863 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

At Libby Dam, 10 miles east of Libby, an observer measured 5 inches of snow.

Heavy Snow, Lower Clark Fork Region

When: November 17, 12:00 AM MST to November 18, 6:30 AM MST
Where: Lower Clark Fork Region forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 47.286, -114.685 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A spotter measured 6.7 inches of snow 9 miles NNW of Noxon.

Heavy Snow, Kootenai/Cabinet Region

When: November 17, 12:19 AM MST to 8:08 AM MST
Where: Kootenai/Cabinet Region forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 48.171, -114.863 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

An observer in Olney measured 6.0 inches of snow.

Heavy Snow, Bitterroot / Sapphire Mountains

When: November 17, 2:00 AM MST to 3:20 PM MST
Where: Bitterroot / Sapphire Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 46.508, -113.828 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The public estimated 9 inches of snow 6 miles SSW of Lolo Hot Springs.

Heavy Snow, Kootenai/Cabinet Region

When: November 17, 5:00 PM MST to November 18, 3:43 PM MST
Where: Kootenai/Cabinet Region forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 48.171, -114.863 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

An observer in Libby measured 5 inches of snow.

Heavy Snow, Kootenai/Cabinet Region

When: November 18, 12:00 AM MST to 7:30 AM MST
Where: Kootenai/Cabinet Region forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 48.171, -114.863 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A spotter 28 miles SSW of Libby measured 4.5 inches of snow.

Heavy Snow, Kootenai/Cabinet Region

When: November 18, 12:00 AM MST to 11:25 AM MST
Where: Kootenai/Cabinet Region forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 48.171, -114.863 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

An observer measured 6.3 inches of snow 7 miles NNE of Yaak.

Heavy Snow, Lower Clark Fork Region

When: November 18, 12:00 AM MST to 3:24 PM MST
Where: Lower Clark Fork Region forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 47.286, -114.685 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A spotter measured 17.1 inches of snow from midnight to 3pm, 9 miles NNW of Noxon. The snow was falling at a rate of 2 inches an hour.

Heavy Snow, Lower Clark Fork Region

When: November 18, 12:00 AM MST to 8:27 PM MST
Where: Lower Clark Fork Region forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 47.286, -114.685 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A trained spotter measured 8.9 inches of snow 2 miles NW of Heron.

Heavy Snow, Potomac / Seeley Lake Region

When: November 18, 6:00 AM MST to 2:08 PM MST
Where: Potomac / Seeley Lake Region forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 46.986, -113.597 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Spotter measured 8 inches of snow in Condon.

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Montana in 2011 Every state in 2011 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, November 2011

Sources

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 353967, 353960, 353961, 353962, 353963, 353964, 353966, 353971, 353945, 353968, 353969, 353973, 354851, 354993, 354998, 354992.