Atmospheric conditions combined to allow stronger winds to reach the surface over an isolated area of north-central Montana.
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The episode as NWS GGW wrote it up.
Atmospheric conditions combined to allow stronger winds to reach the surface over an isolated area of north-central Montana.
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 Mar 9, 3:12 AM MST, 5 hours 37 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 312 AM MST FRI MAR 9 2012 .SHORT TERM...FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA...TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY... UPPER RIDGE WILL BUILD INTO MONTANA TODAY AND BRING WARM DRY AIR INTO THE REGION. STATIONARY FRONT NEAR MALTA AND JORDAN WILL MOVE TO THE EAST AS A WARM FRONT TODAY. SOME LOCATIONS MAY SEE RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES. LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH ALBERTA AND SASKATCHEWAN. GUSTY WEST TO SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED BEHIND THIS FRONT. WITH RH FALLING TO BELOW 20 PERCENT SOUTH OF THE MISSOURI RIVER THIS AFTERNOON...FIRE WEATHER WILL BECOME A CONCERN. SEE FIRE WX DISCUSSION BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS. THE WARM AIR WILL LINGER OVER NORTHEAST MONTANA TONIGHT WITH OVERNIGHT LOWS CLOSE TO THE NORMAL HIGHS FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. WINDS WILL DIMINISH SOMEWHAT BUT STAY HIGH ENOUGH TO KEEP TEMPERATURES WARM. THE RIDGE FLATTEN SOMEWHAT FOR SATURDAY WITH A WEAK COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH THE AREA. LOOK FOR SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES WITH LIGHTER WINDS THAN TODAY. A LEE SIDE TROUGH DEVELOPS BY SATURDAY NIGHT TURNING THE WINDS INTO A SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST DIRECTION IN MANY LOCATIONS. FLOW ALOFT BECOME SOUTHWEST AHEAD OF AN UPPER TROUGH THAT WILL BE MOVING INLAND FROM THE PACIFIC ON SUNDAY. EXPECT A GRADUAL INCREASE IN CLOUDS ON SUNDAY AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT THAT WILL REACH EASTERN MONTANA LATE SUNDAY OR SUNDAY NIGHT. FORRESTER .LONG TERM...SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY... A POLAR VORTEX CURRENTLY CENTERED OVER BAFFIN ISLAND WILL SWING AN IMPRESSIVE STORM SYSTEM FROM ALASKA TO THE PACNW/BRITISH COLUMBIA COAST BY SUNDAY NIGHT. BOTH THE GFS AND EC SHOW THIS WAVE SPLITTING SUNDAY NIGHT...TAKING SOME ENERGY INTO NORTHERN SASKATCHEWAN BY MONDAY MORNING. THE MAIN WAVE REMAINS OFF THE NORTHWEST COAST DRIVING A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF MOISTURE INTO THE CASCADES AND NORTHERN ROCKIES THROUGH TUESDAY. THE BASE OF THE TROUGH IS SLOW TO PROGRESS EAST. HOWEVER THE FIRST COLD FRONT WILL ARRIVE IN NORTHEAST MONTANA SUNDAY NIGHT WITHOUT MUCH MOISTURE. SLIGHT CHANCE POPS STILL LOOK LIKE THE WAY TO GO SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY. THE STORM/UPPER TROUGH FINALLY BEGINS TO MOVE ONSHORE MONDAY NIGHT SENDING A MUCH STRONGER COLD FRONT INTO NORTHEAST MONTANA TUESDAY AFTERNOON. THERE IS MORE QPF ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FRONT. IN ADDITION A SURFACE VORTEX CENTERED OVER CENTRAL SASKATCHEWAN WILL GENERATE STRONG WESTERLY WINDS ON TUESDAY. 850MB TEMPERATURES DROP SEVERAL DEGREES BELOW 0C SO SOME OF THE CHANCE PRECIPITATION SHOULD TRANSITION OVER TO SNOW. GUIDANCE SUGGEST NOT MUCH OF A DROP OFF IN DAY TEMPERATURES BUT OVERNIGHT WILL BE COLD ENOUGH FOR SNOW TO STICK. AN UPPER RIDGE BUILDS UP BEHIND THE DEPARTING TROUGH WHEN ANOTHER EASTERN PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM BEGINS TO NUDGE AGAINST THE PACNW COAST ON WEDNESDAY. THIS RIDGE SHOULD DOMINATE THE EXTENDED PERIOD THROUGH FRIDAY WITH TEMPERATURES WARMING. HOWEVER BOTH GFS AND THE EC SUGGEST THE NEXT PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM COULD MOVE OVER EASTERN MONTANA BY THE WEEKEND. SCT && .AVIATION... AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BRING VFR AND MILD CONDITIONS TO THE AREA TODAY. HOWEVER A LEE SURFACE TROUGH AND SOME MIXING OF WESTERLY WINDS ALOFT TO THE SURFACE WILL GENERATE WEST TO SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 15KT TO 25KT...WHICH WILL DIMINISH AFTER SUNSET. SCT && .FIRE WEATHER... NEAR RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL DRIVE HUMIDITY INTO THE TEENS TO LOWER 20S ACROSS MUCH OF NORTHEAST MONTANA THIS AFTERNOON. THESE HOT AND DRY CONDITIONS COULD COMBINE WITH GUSTY WEST- SOUTHWEST WINDS AT 15 TO 30 MPH DURING THE AFTERNOON TO DRIVE CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ACROSS ZONES 135...136...137 AND 122. AMPLE STANDING FINE DEAD FUELS ARE PRESENT ACROSS THE REGION AND SNOW HAS LARGELY MELTED. A RED FLAG WARNING IN IN EFFECT FOR THE AFOREMENTIONED ZONES FROM 11 AM THROUGH 8 PM TODAY. FOR ZONES 134 AND 122 TODAY WILL BE A HEADS UP DAY AS HUMIDITY DIPS INTO THE MID 20 PERCENTS AND GUSTY WEST-SOUTHWEST WINDS DEVELOP....BUT WIDESPREAD CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE NOT EXPECTED. HOT AND DRY CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST INTO THE WEEKEND FOR ALL OF NORTHEAST MONTANA...ALTHOUGH WINDS WILL GENERALLY BE SOUTHWEST TO SOUTHERLY AND LESS THAN 15 MPH. && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... RED FLAG WARNING FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 8 PM MST THIS EVENING FOR MTZ122-135>137. && WEATHER.GOV/GLASGOW
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 345 AM MST FRI MAR 9 2012 MTZ016-017-021>027-060-101000- CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY- PETROLEUM-GARFIELD-MCCONE-RICHLAND-DAWSON-PRAIRIE-WIBAUX- SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS- 345 AM MST FRI MAR 9 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NEAR RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES TODAY WILL COMBINE WITH DRY FUELS.. LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES AND GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS TO RAISE FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS ACROSS THE REGION. A RED FLAG WARNING IS IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM MST TO 8 PM MST FOR AREAS ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE MISSOURI RIVER INCLUDING FORT PECK LAKE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .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.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Malta South US-191 DOT site measured sustained winds from the west, at or above 40 mph for more than two hours, with the highest wind gust of 61 mph measured between 8:59 and 9:09 AM MST.
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: 369902.