An upper level low off the Washington coast and a strong jet helped develop and intensify a surface low and associated cold front. This system brought damaging winds and some brief heavy snowfall to the region.
Every event with a place to put it; 8 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 MSO wrote it up.
An upper level low off the Washington coast and a strong jet helped develop and intensify a surface low and associated cold front. This system brought damaging winds and some brief heavy snowfall to the region.
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 Mar 12, 1:57 PM MST, 9 hours 3 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
257 PM MDT MON MAR 12 2012
...POSSIBLE DAMAGING WINDS ACROSS PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO
TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...
.DISCUSSION...
TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT...SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL EXIST
OVER THE NORTHERN ROCKIES DURING THIS TIME. A PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM
EMBEDDED WITHIN THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION
TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT...BRINGING DAMAGING WINDS TO PORTIONS
OF NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO. WINDS NEAR GRANGEVILLE WILL BE STRONG ENOUGH
TO BLOW HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES OFF ROADWAYS AND DAMAGE
INFRASTRUCTURE...TREES...AND POWER LINES. ELSEWHERE...GENERALLY
WINDY CONDITIONS WILL EXIST...WITH SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW IMPACTING
MOUNTAIN PASSES ALONG THE MONTANA AND IDAHO BORDER. WIND AND WINTER
WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS HAVE BEEN ISSUED TO ADDRESS THIS IMPACT. WINDS
WILL SUBSIDE ACROSS THE NORTHERN ROCKIES BY LATE TUESDAY
EVENING...AS A SURFACE COLD FRONT MOVES ACROSS THE REGION...DROPPING
A QUICK BURST OF RAIN/SNOW MIX.
WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW THAT IS SLIGHTLY
UNSTABLE WILL CAUSE MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS. SOME SHOWERS MAY MOVE
OFF THE MOUNTAINS AND IMPACT VALLEYS...BUT THE MAJORITY OF THE
PRECIPITATION WILL BE OVER THE MOUNTAINS.
THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY A SYSTEM IMPACTS THE AREA WITH A FAST
MOVING...STRENGTHENING COLD FRONT FRIDAY AFTERNOON. GUSTY WINDS
AND MOUNTAIN SNOW WILL CAUSE TRAVEL IMPACTS OVER MOUNTAIN
PASSES. VALLEY LOCATIONS WILL LIKELY SEE RAIN OR A RAIN SNOW MIX
WITH THE COLD FRONT...AND SOME SNOW SHOWERS OVERNIGHT BEHIND THE
FRONT. FROM WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY WILL BE A VERY WET PERIOD
FOR THE BITTERROOT MOUNTAINS AND HIGHER TERRAIN IN CENTRAL
IDAHO.
SATURDAY A DEEP TROUGH DIGS ACROSS THE WEST COAST LEAVING THE
AREA IN A COOL PATTERN WITH CONTINUED MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW INTO
THE REGION. LONG RANGE MODELS SHOW A WEATHER SYSTEM WILL MOVE
THROUGH SUNDAY AND BRING WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS. WENT WITH
CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION ABOVE CLIMATOLOGY FOR THE HIGHER
ELEVATIONS. FOR THE START OF NEXT WEEK SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL
TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED.
.AVIATION...ANOTHER PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL IMPACT NORTHERN
ROCKIES AIR TERMINALS DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS AND BEYOND. THE
PRINCIPLE IMPACT TO AVIATION DURING THIS TIME WILL BE WITH
SOUTHWEST WINDS GUSTING OVER 40 KTS AFTER 13/1200Z AT
KMSO...KSMN...AND KBTM. WINDS WILL SUBSIDE AROUND 14/0300Z...
FOLLOWING A SURFACE COLD FRONT TO SWEEP ACROSS THE NORTHERN
ROCKIES FROM WEST TO EAST. A SECONDARY IMPACT TO AVIATION WILL BE
OCCASIONAL RAIN/SNOW SHOWERS LOWERING CEILINGS. TERRAIN FEATURES
WILL BE OBSCURED AT TIMES DUE TO PRECIPITATION AND LOW CLOUDS AS
WELL.
&&
.MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT... WIND ADVISORY FROM 9 AM TO 9 PM MDT TUESDAY BUTTE/BLACKFOOT
REGION.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 9 AM TUESDAY TO 9 AM MDT WEDNESDAY
BITTERROOT/SAPPHIRE MOUNTAINS.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 6 AM TO 6 PM MDT TUESDAY FLATHEAD/MISSION
VALLEYS...MISSOULA/BITTERROOT VALLEYS...POTOMAC/SEELEY LAKE
REGION...WEST GLACIER REGION.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 6 PM MDT
TUESDAY FOR I-90 LOOKOUT PASS TO HAUGAN.
ID...WIND ADVISORY FROM 9 AM TO 9 PM MDT TUESDAY EASTERN LEMHI
COUNTY...WESTERN LEMHI COUNTY.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 8 AM TUESDAY TO 8 AM PDT WEDNESDAY
SOUTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS.
HIGH WIND WARNING FROM 2 AM TO 2 PM PDT TUESDAY FOR GRANGEVILLE
AND VICINITY.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 2 AM TO 2 PM PDT TUESDAY LOWER HELLS
CANYON/SALMON RIVER REGION...NORTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS.
&&
SHORT TERM...ZUMPFE
LONG TERM....LEACH/NOBLE
AVIATION...ZUMPFEThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 high wind, 2 strong wind, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Lookout Pass ski resort measured 8 inches of snow at its base at 4500 feet.
A wind gust was measured at 69 mph, with sustained winds of 35 to 45 mph from the south, 3 miles northeast of Kila. A dog kennel and boat cover were blown over.
The Sheepherder RAWS at 3090 feet and 6 miles west-southwest of Evergreen measured a gust to 65 mph.
The public reported powerlines down in Kalispell.
A wind gust of 60 mph was reported to the media, about 1 mile east of Glacier International Airport. The wind ripped shingles off the house and dropped a 22 inch diameter fir tree.
Shingles blew off of a house 2 miles west-northwest of Stevensville.
Several power lines were down south of Victor in Ravalli county.
A fairgrounds barn's roof in Hamilton blew off and landed on a house. House roof is crushed in and part of the house is crushed. In addition powerlines are down.
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, March 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: 369815, 369816, 369819, 369821, 370128, 370125, 370126, 370127.