A late-season, large-scale storm system spread winter weather conditions across the state of Montana over a 2-day period.
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.
A late-season, large-scale storm system spread winter weather conditions across the state of Montana over a 2-day period.
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 25, 5:02 AM MST, 1 hour 58 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 502 AM MST SAT FEB 25 2012 .SHORT TERM...FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA...TODAY THROUGH MONDAY... LIGHT SNOW SPREADING E ACROSS OUR N THIS MORNING IN WARM ADVECTION PATTERN. MODELS INDICATE THAT THE APPROACHING WEATHER SYSTEM WILL BECOME VERTICALLY STACKED OVER OUR N THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...SOME NOT QUITE CLOSING OFF AT 500 MB THOUGH. OVERALL THERE IS REASONABLE AGREEMENT THIS SYSTEM...WHICH WILL BRING ADVISORY CRITERIA SNOWFALL TO MOST OF OUR AREA N OF THE MISSOURI RIVER. WITH MODELS SIMILAR TO PREVIOUS RUNS AS WELL...WELL LET THE ALREADY ISSUED WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY CONTINUE AS IS...AS THE STORM UNFOLDS. ONE MAJOR FORECAST PROBLEM WILL BE THE WIND POTENTIAL WHICH MODELS SHOW UP TO 50 KT IN OUR S AT 850 MB LATE TONIGHT DURING COLD ADVECTION. THIS IS WHERE SNOW WILL BE LIGHTEST THOUGH...THE HEAVIER SNOW AREA HAVING THE LIGHTEST WIND. SO WILL GO WITH AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW IN SORT OF A MIDDLE GROUND BETWEEN THESE. MOST MODELS TAPER OFF AND END THE SNOW DURING THE AFTERNOON SUNDAY...WITH VERY LITTLE RISE IN TEMPS IN COLD ADVECTION PATTERN. POLAR HIGH PRESSURE BRINGS PARTIAL CLEARING SUNDAY NIGHT WITH WINDS DIMINISHING TO LIGHT. WITH FRESH SNOWCOVER AND 850 MB TEMPS DOWN TO -18C IN OUR N...A BELOW ZERO NIGHT EXPECTED...AND HAVE LOWERED LOWS CLOSER TO SOME OF THE COLDEST MODELS. THE NEXT SYSTEM STARTS TO SPREAD CLOUDINESS INTO THE AREA FROM THE WEST MONDAY...BUT MAIN PART OF THE SYSTEM IS HEADED TO OUR S. SLIGHT WARM ADVECTION...BUT E WINDS AND SNOWCOVER SHOULD HOLD HIGHS SIMILAR TO SUNDAY. SIMONSEN .LONG TERM...MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY... OVERALL COLDER AND MORE WINTER LIKE PATTERN FOR THE EXTENDED PERIOD WITH A BROAD TROF ACROSS THE WESTERN STATES AND JET PUSHED TO THE SOUTH. MAIN FEATURE OF NOTE IS CLOSED LOW LIFTING ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY. EXPECT A SHARP NORTHERN EDGE TO THE ASSOCIATED PRECIPITATION WITH RIDGING ACROSS CENTRAL CANADA AND DRY AIR PUSHING SOUTH. SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES AMONG THE MODELS ON WHERE THIS BOUNDARY WILL OCCUR...WITH GFS BRINGING IT ACROSS SOUTHEAST MONTANA AND EC JUST BRUSHING THE SOUTHEAST ZONES. GEM IS MUCH FURTHER NORTH BUT ALSO SLOWER THEN THE OTHER MODELS. TRENDED POPS A LITTLE FURTHER TO THE SOUTH THAN IN PREVIOUS FORECAST DUE TO AGREEMENT OF GFS...GFS ENSEMBLES AND EC. ANOTHER TROF MOVES ACROSS THE STATE ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT/THURSDAY. PRECIPITATION ASSOCIATED WITH THIS TROF IS NOT AS CERTAIN WITH SOME SPLITTING OF THE TROF INDICATED IN THE MODELS. NORTHWEST FLOW OVER THE REGION FOR THE END OF THE WEEK WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES NEAR NORMAL AND WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION. EBERT && .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED THIS MORNING. FLIGHT CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS SNOW MOVES INTO THE REGION. POOR FLIGHT CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. RAE && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 11 AM MST SUNDAY FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS...CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY...NORTHERN PHILLIPS...NORTHERN VALLEY. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 5 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 5 PM MST SUNDAY FOR DANIELS...SHERIDAN...WESTERN ROOSEVELT...RICHLAND... EASTERN ROOSEVELT. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 5 PM MST SUNDAY FOR MCCONE. && WEATHER.GOV/GLASGOW
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 435 AM MST SAT FEB 25 2012 MTZ016>020-023-024-059-061-062-261200- CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY- DANIELS-SHERIDAN-WESTERN ROOSEVELT-MCCONE-RICHLAND- NORTHERN PHILLIPS-NORTHERN VALLEY-EASTERN ROOSEVELT- 435 AM MST SAT FEB 25 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A SIGNIFICANT WEATHER SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO BRING SNOW TO THE REGION OVER THE WEEKEND. MOST OF THE SNOW FROM THIS STORM IS FORECASTED TO FALL NORTH OF THE MISSOURI RIVER WITH THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL EXPECTED TONIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR AREAS NORTH OF THE MISSOURI RIVER FOR 2 TO 5 INCHES STORM TOTAL SNOW...THE HEAVIEST AMOUNTS CLOSEST TO THE CANADA BORDER. THERE WILL ALSO BE AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY AN ARCTIC AIR MASS WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA SUNDAY WITH SUB-ZERO TEMPERATURES LIKELY MONDAY MORNING...ESPECIALLY NORTH OF THE MISSOURI RIVER. .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 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Generally 2 to 6 inches of snow were reported across the entire county - less in the southeast and more in the northwest. Six inches of snow were reported at each of the following locations: 29 NW Sand Springs, 3W Brusett, and 22 NE Jordan.
Cooperative observer reported 6 inches of snow at Zortman.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, February 2012
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: 364918, 364919.