|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 contributed to high winds along the Rocky Mountain Front.|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 Jan 8, 9:43 AM MST, 1 hour 14 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 943 AM MST SUN JAN 8 2012 .UPDATE... AN AREA OF MOISTURE ROTATING AROUND THE FRONT SIDE OF AN UPPER RIDGE IS PRODUCING SCATTERED LIGHT PRECIPITATION OVER THE MOUNTAINS. CURRENT FORECAST HAS THIS HANDLED WELL BUT BASED ON A FEW OBSERVATIONS WILL ADD A MENTION OF A CHANCE OF FREEZING PRECIPITATION TO A PORTION OF SOUTHWEST MONTANA FOR THIS MORNING. OTHERWISE WILL INCREASE SKY COVER OVER THE FAR EASTERN ZONES BASED ON SATELLITE IMAGERY AND EXPECTED TRENDS AND INCREASE WINDS IN THE WINDIEST AREAS OF THE FRONT RANGE AGAIN BASED ON OBSERVATIONS AND EXPECTED TRENDS. LATEST NAM HAS COME IN WITH LITTLE IN THE WAY OF PRECIPITATION WITH TUESDAYS SYSTEM BUT LATEST GFS IS IN LINE WITH ITS PREVIOUS RUN IN HAVING MORE PRECIPITATION RELATIVE TO THE NAM. BLANK && .AVIATION... UPDATED 1200Z. INCREASING MID-HIGH LEVEL CLOUDINESS IS EXPECTED FOR TODAY AS MOISTURE CROSSES OVER AN UPPER-LEVEL RIDGE. ANY PRECIPITATION WILL BE CONFINED TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND THE MOUNTAINS OVER SOUTHWEST MONTANA AND MOUNTAIN OBSCURATION CAN BE ANTICIPATED FOR THESE AREAS. ADDED VCSH TO KHLN AND KBZN. BREEZY WEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED ALONG THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND ADJACENT PLAINS WITH GUSTS UP TO 40KTS POSSIBLE. OVERALL...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS. MLV && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 427 AM MST SUN JAN 8 2012/ TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY...INCREASING MID-HIGH LEVEL CLOUDINESS IS EXPECTED TODAY AS WEAK ENERGY ROTATES ON THE LEE-SIDE OF UPPER- LEVEL RIDGE. GUSTY WINDS ARE ALSO OCCURRING ALONG THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT...HOWEVER WINDS HAVE STAYED BELOW HIGH WIND CRITERIA SO WILL HOLD OFF ON A HIGH WIND WARNING THIS MORNING BUT CONTINUE TO MONITOR. RIDGE FLATTENS OUT TODAY SO BREEZY WEST-NORTHWEST WINDS WILL BE FELT ACROSS NORTH-CENTRAL MONTANA. IN ADDITION...LIMITED PACIFIC MOISTURE AND ISENTROPIC LIFT ASSOCIATED WITH WEAK SHORTWAVES MAY BE ENOUGH TO ALLOW FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS THOUGH ANY ACCUMULATIONS WOULD BE LESS THAN AN INCH. OTHERWISE CONTINUED DRY WITH ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES ARE ANTICIPATED THROUGH MONDAY. THE MAIN CONCERN IS REGARDING A FAST- MOVING PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WHICH SHOULD AFFECT THE FORECAST AREA ON TUESDAY. INCREASING MOISTURE AND A COLDER CANADIAN AIRMASS WITH A COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE MAY BRING WIDESPREAD LIGHT SNOW TO NORTH-CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA. INITIALLY...A BRIEF PERIOD OF A RAIN/SNOW MIX IS POSSIBLE THOUGH ONCE THE COLD FRONT PASSES PRECIPITATION SHOULD QUICKLY CHANGE TO ALL SNOW. MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW DIFFERENCES REGARDING TIMING AND SNOW AMOUNTS BUT AS OF NOW...THIS SYSTEM SEEMS TO BE MOVING TOO QUICKLY TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT HEAVY SNOW AMOUNTS AND ADVISORY CRITERIA SNOWFALL IS PROBABLE. TIMING OF THE FRONT SHOULD BE TUESDAY MORNING OVER NORTH-CENTRAL MONTANA AND TUESDAY AFTERNOON IN SOUTHWEST MONTANA. OVER THE PLAINS AND VALLEYS...SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 5 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE WITH HIGHER AMOUNTS IN THE MOUNTAINS...ESPECIALLY ON NORTH-FACING SLOPES. TEMPERATURES WILL QUICKLY FALL INTO THE 20S BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON WITH GUSTY NORTHERLY WINDS. MLV TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY...FAST MOVING WEATHER SYSTEM MOVING THROUGH MY FORECAST AREA ON TUESDAY WILL LEAVE RESIDUAL SHOWERS ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA TUESDAY EVENING. THIS SYSTEM MOVES EAST OF THE FORECAST AREA ON WEDNESDAY. MEDIUM RANGE MODELS CONTINUE TO INDICATE THAT THE UPPER AIR PATTER WILL RETURN TO A WEAK POSITIVE TILT RIDGE OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND WESTERN MONTANA WITH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK EXPECTED TO SEE A RETURN TO WARMER TEMPERATURES AND BREEZY CONDITIONS FOR THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. MODEL SOLUTIONS DIVERGE AGAIN ON SUNDAY WITH THE GFS BRINGING ANOTHER COLD SHORTWAVE THROUGH THE STATE WHILE THE ECMWF KEEPS A LESS AMPLIFIED NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT OVER MONTANA. HAVE TRENDED TOWARD CLIMATOLOGY DUE TO THE UNCERTAINTY. MPJ && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GTF 46 38 53 33 / 10 0 0 10 CTB 47 37 51 30 / 10 0 0 30 HLN 41 24 47 24 / 10 0 0 10 BZN 39 15 45 20 / 10 0 0 10 WEY 23 -1 28 11 / 40 0 0 10 DLN 38 20 43 21 / 10 0 0 10 HVR 50 34 56 31 / 0 0 0 10 LWT 45 32 53 32 / 10 0 0 10 && .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && SHORT TERM...BLANK LONG TERM...BRUSDA AVIATION...BRUSDA WEATHER.GOV/GREATFALLS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 530 AM MST SUN JAN 8 2012 MTZ008>015-044>055-091230- BEAVERHEAD-NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT-EASTERN GLACIER-HILL- CASCADE-CHOUTEAU-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN LEWIS AND CLARK-MADISON- TOOLE-LIBERTY-EASTERN PONDERA-BLAINE- SOUTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT-EASTERN TETON-JUDITH BASIN-FERGUS- JEFFERSON-BROADWATER-MEAGHER-GALLATIN- 530 AM MST SUN JAN 8 2012 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...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY A COLD FRONT MAY BRING WIDESPREAD ACCUMULATING SNOW AND COLDER TEMPERATURES ON TUESDAY. HIGHLIGHTS MAY BECOME NECESSARY AS CONFIDENCE INCREASES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION COULD BE REQUIRED FOR WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ON TUESDAY.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A wind gust to 65 mph was reported at East Glacier Park 1E (the Two Medicine DOT site).
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, January 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: 356968.