Gusty west winds developed along the Rocky Mountain Front and Blaine/Fergus counties causing difficult driving conditions for high-profile vehicles.
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.
Gusty west winds developed along the Rocky Mountain Front and Blaine/Fergus counties causing difficult driving conditions for high-profile vehicles.
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 Nov 5, 2:30 AM MST, 2 hours 1 minute earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 230 AM MST MON NOV 5 2012 .DISCUSSION... TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...STRONG WESTERLY WINDS WILL CONTINUE ALONG THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND ADJACENT PLAINS THIS MORNING. WIND GUSTS UP TO 55KTS ARE POSSIBLE THIS MORNING ALONG THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND WILL CONTINUE HIGH WIND WARNING THROUGH 6PM MST. STRONG DOWNSLOPE WINDS OVER THE PLAINS AND WARM SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW OVER SOUTHWEST MONTANA WILL KEEP HIGH TEMPERATURES 15 TO 20 DEGREES ABOVE SEASONAL AVERAGES. ONE OF THE FEATURES THAT IS PROMOTING STRONG WINDS OVER THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT IS A WEAK UPPER-LEVEL SHORTWAVE AND ASSOCIATED SURFACE COLD FRONT THAT WILL PUSH INTO AREAS ALONG THE HI-LINE TODAY. THERE MAY BE A FEW LIGHT SHOWERS WITH THIS FRONT SO HAVE INCREASED POPS TO SLIGHT CHANCE FOR AREAS ALONG AND NORTH OF HIGHWAY 2. IN RESPONSE TO THE FRONTAL PASSAGE...OVERNIGHT LOW TEMPERATURES WILL BE FEW DEGREES COOLER ALONG THE HI-LINE WHILE MILD CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED ELSEWHERE. AN UPPER-LEVEL RIDGE WILL BUILD INTO THE NORTHERN ROCKIES TUESDAY WITH LIGHTER WINDS AND UNSEASONABLY MILD TEMPERATURES ANTICIPATED. ON TUESDAY AFTERNOON...ANOTHER UPPER-LEVEL SHORTWAVE WILL HELP TO FLATTEN THE RIDGE AND BRING ANOTHER CHANCE OF SHOWERS TO AREAS ALONG THE HI-LINE...THOUGH MODELS DIFFER ON HOW FAR SOUTH PRECIPITATION WILL OCCUR. THIS SHORTWAVE WILL BECOME MORE AMPLIFIED TUESDAY NIGHT AS PACIFIC MOISTURE INCREASES AND ANOTHER STRONGER TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE BEGINS TO MOVE INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. PRECIPITATION CHANCES WILL INCREASE INTO CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA ON WEDNESDAY AS THE FIRST PUSH OF COOLER AIR ASSOCIATED WITH THE STRONGER AND MUCH COLDER TROUGH BEGINS TO MOVE INTO THE FORECAST AREA. MLV WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY..MEDIUM RANGE PERIOD STARTS OUT WITH A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN THE WEATHER AS A CANADIAN COLD FRONT PUSHES SOUTH THROUGH MONTANA WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY. AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH ALONG THE WEST COAST WILL BRING A VERY MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WHICH WILL OVER-RUN A COLD CANADIAN AIRMASS BUILDING OVER THE TREASURE STATE IN THE WAKE OF THE FRONT. WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION DEVELOPS ACROSS MONTANA WITH RAIN CHANGING OVER TO SNOW FROM NORTH TO SOUTH AS THE COLD AIRMASS DEEPENS ACROSS THE REGION. SNOW IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE ACROSS THE ENTIRE STATE THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY WITH ADDITIONAL COLD AIR BEING PUMPED IN FROM THE NORTH. MODELS HAVE BEEN IN INCREDIBLY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THIS STORM SYSTEM SINCE LAST WEEK SO FEEL CONFIDENT THAT THIS WILL BE A VERY SIGNIFICANT AUTUMN STORM SYSTEM WITH WIDESPREAD ACCUMULATING SNOWS REQUIRING HIGHLIGHTS ACROSS A WIDE PORTION OF MY FORECAST AREA. AS A RESULT I HAVE INCREASED POPS TO GREATER THAN 80 PERCENT FOR MUCH OF MY FORECAST AREA FOR THE THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY TIME FRAME. MODELS SUGGEST THAT THE UPPER TROUGH WILL MOVE SLOWLY EAST FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY WITH PRECIPITATION TAPERING OFF FROM WEST TO EAST. MODELS SOLUTIONS DIVERGE A BIT BY SUNDAY WITH THE GFS SUGGESTING THAT THE COLD AIR WILL MOVE EAST WITH A RETURN TO WESTERLY WINDS WARMING THE FORECAST AREA WHILE THE ECMWF DOES NOT BEGIN TO SHOW ANY SIGNIFICANT WARMING UNTIL MONDAY. HAVE OPTED TO LEAN MORE TOWARD THE ECMWF FORECAST WHICH APPEARS MORE REASONABLE IN KEEPING THE COLD AIR IN PLACE FOR ANOTHER DAY. MPJ && .AVIATION... UPDATED 0530Z. CURRENT SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS EXTENSIVE SHIELD OF MID- AND HIGH-LEVEL CLOUD COVER OVER ALMOST ALL OF CENTRAL/SOUTHWEST MT. MOST OF THE CEILINGS ARE ABOVE FL120 EXCEPT VCNTY KHLN/KBZN WHERE LOWER CLOUD DECKS (FL050-070) FROM EARLIER THIS AFTN HAVE PERSISTED INTO THIS EVE. ALL THE CLOUDS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH CROSSING THROUGH THE NORTHERN FLANK OF A BROAD HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE THAT EXTENDS FROM OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST INTO CENTRAL ALBERTA AND SASKATCHEWAN. LITTLE IF ANY PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED AS THE TROUGH MOVES THRU CENTRAL/SOUTHWEST MT. THE INCREASING PRESSURE GRADIENT CAUSED BY THE TROUGH CRESTING THE RIDGE AXIS IS ALREADY BRINGING INCREASED WINDS ALONG THE ROCKY MTN FRONT THIS EVE AND THE GUSTY WINDS WILL SPREAD EAST/SOUTHEAST INTO THE CENTRAL MT PLAINS OVERNIGHT AND TOMORROW MORNING. WIDESPREAD GUSTS OF 25 TO 35 KTS EXPECTED EAST/NORTH OF A KCTB-KGTF-KLWT LINE WITH GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 KNOTS VCNTY AND WEST OF KCTB. WARANAUSKAS && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GTF 66 40 63 45 / 10 10 10 10 CTB 64 32 56 40 / 20 10 20 20 HLN 65 42 66 42 / 10 10 10 10 BZN 65 37 67 36 / 10 10 10 0 WEY 52 26 52 26 / 10 10 10 0 DLN 64 37 65 37 / 10 10 10 10 HVR 64 32 52 36 / 20 10 10 20 LWT 63 36 59 40 / 10 10 10 10 && .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 6 PM MST THIS EVENING NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT...SOUTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT. && WEATHER.GOV/GREATFALLS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 307 AM MST MON NOV 5 2012 MTZ009-048-061100- NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT-SOUTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT- 307 AM MST MON NOV 5 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM MST TODAY. WEST WINDS 30 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH ARE EXPECTED. LOCALLY HIGHER GUSTS TO 70 MPH THROUGH FAVORED MOUNTAIN PASSES AND CANYONS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY A PATTERN CHANGE DURING THE LATTER HALF OF THIS WEEK WILL BRING MUCH COLDER AND WETTER CONDITIONS TO THE AREA. SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL AND IMPACTS TO TRAVEL AND OUTDOOR RECREATION ARE POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. MTZ008-010>015-044>047-049>055-061100- BEAVERHEAD-EASTERN GLACIER-HILL-CASCADE-CHOUTEAU- CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN LEWIS AND CLARK-MADISON-TOOLE-LIBERTY- EASTERN PONDERA-BLAINE-EASTERN TETON-JUDITH BASIN-FERGUS- JEFFERSON-BROADWATER-MEAGHER-GALLATIN- 307 AM MST MON NOV 5 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL MONTANA...NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THE PROBABILITY IS LOW FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY A PATTERN CHANGE DURING THE LATTER HALF OF THIS WEEK WILL BRING MUCH COLDER AND WETTER CONDITIONS TO THE AREA. SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL AND IMPACTS TO TRAVEL AND OUTDOOR RECREATION ARE POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Two Medicine Bridge DOT measures 76 mph wind gust. Sustained winds 55 mph.
Fort Belknap RAWS measures 60 mph wind gust.
Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch 17 miles west of Pendroy measures 70 mph wind gust.
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, November 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: 418421, 418423, 418420.