Montana, 2012

Heavy Snow in Montana, January 29 to 30, 2012

January 29 to 30, 2012 · NWS MSO · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A cold front moved in from the west and produced heavy snow showers. Storm total amounts were not overly impressive but intensities caused hazardous travel at times.

Where it happened

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.

  • 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
2

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 cold front moved in from the west and produced heavy snow showers. Storm total amounts were not overly impressive but intensities caused hazardous travel at times.

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 Jan 29, 3:57 AM MST, 2 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 29, 3:57 AM MST, 2 hours 3 minutes before
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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Lower Clark Fork Region

When
January 29, 6:00 AM MST to January 30, 6:42 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)

Snowfall total at Lookout pass ski resort, measured 9 inches at 4500 feet, and 12 inches at 5650 feet.

Heavy Snow, West Glacier Region

When
January 30, 5:30 AM MST to 8:00 AM MST
Where
West Glacier Region forecast zone
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
47.971, -114.069 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Snowfall measured at the Whitefish mountain village, 4 inches at 4464 feet and 9 inches at the summit at 6817 feet.

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

More

Every storm in Montana in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, January 2012

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: 361479, 361478.