A strong pressure gradient set up over the northern high plains region for a few days between intense low pressure to the northeast and higher pressure to the southwest, which funneled very strong winds across northeast Montana.
Every event with a place to put it; 16 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 GGW wrote it up.
A strong pressure gradient set up over the northern high plains region for a few days between intense low pressure to the northeast and higher pressure to the southwest, which funneled very strong winds across northeast 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 Oct 16, 2:27 PM MST, 1 hour 33 minutes earlier.
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</html>HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 339 AM MDT TUE OCT 16 2012 MTZ016>027-059>062-170900- CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY- DANIELS-SHERIDAN-WESTERN ROOSEVELT-PETROLEUM-GARFIELD-MCCONE- RICHLAND-DAWSON-PRAIRIE-WIBAUX-NORTHERN PHILLIPS- SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS-NORTHERN VALLEY-EASTERN ROOSEVELT- 339 AM MDT TUE OCT 16 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING THROUGH MIDNIGHT WEDNESDAY NIGHT. AN ACTIVE STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION BEGINNING TODAY. STRONGER WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO GRADUALLY WORK THEIR WAY FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS WESTERN PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA THIS AFTERNOON WITH WINDS IN THE 35 TO 45 MPH RANGE AND GUSTS TO 60 MPH. THE STORM WILL BRING ALONG SOME COLDER TEMPERATURES AS WELL ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY...CHANGING THE PRECIPITATION OVER TO SNOW ALONG THE CANADIAN AND NORTH DAKOTA BORDERS WITH LESS THAN A QUARTER INCH OF SNOW ACCUMULATION EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY A FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF NORTHEAST MONTANA WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. BEHIND THE COLD FRONT AND SANDWICHED BETWEEN LOW PRESSURE TO THE NORTHEAST AND HIGH PRESSURE TO THE WEST...STRONGER WINDS WILL DEVELOP AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY ACROSS ALL OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. THE ARRIVAL OF COLDER AIR BEHIND THE SYSTEM LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT COULD PRODUCE A WINTRY MIX OF PRECIPITATION ALONG THE FAR NORTHEASTERN AND EASTERN EDGES OF MONTANA...WITH LESS THAN A HALF INCH OF SNOW ACCUMULATION EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
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</html>The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
16 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Co-operative observer measured a 60 mph wind gust on the evening of the 17th. A trained spotter near the same area reported a wind gust of 78 mph during the late afternoon hours.
The mesonet site at Whitewater measured sustained winds of 40 mph for most of the evening hours.
The South Sawmill Creek RAWS site and the Jordan airport ASOS METAR measured wind gusts of 58 mph and 59 mph respectively during the evening hours on October 16th.
Sustained winds of 41 mph were recorded at the mesonet site just east of the Fort Peck Dam during the late night hours. After a morning respite, sustained winds of at least 40 mph returned across the entire zone from mid day through the afternoon hours, with a maximum wind gust of 66 mph.
Sustained wind speeds at or near 40 mph were measured at the Winnett Mesonet site during the evening hours with a maximum wind gust of 61 mph recorded at 20:50 pm MST.
Multiple locations measured sustained winds in excess of 40 mph and some gusts in excess of 58 mph. At the King Coulee RAWS site, a maximum wind gust of 69 mph was during the overnight hours between November 16th and 17th.
Wind gusts of at least 58 mph were recorded at the Big Sheep Mountain RAWS site during the late night hours of Oct. 16th, with a maximum wind gust of 62 mph.
The local newspaper out of Scobey reported that a garage construction site was damaged from high winds on the evening of Oct. 16th.
Sustained winds above 40 mph were common during the early afternoon hours of Oct. 17th at the Wolf Point ASOS site with a measured maximum wind gust of 61 mph.
The Beaver Hill DOT site measured sustained winds in excess of 40 mph from mid morning through early evening, with a maximum wind gust of 60 mph in the afternoon.
Sustained winds of at least 40 mph were measured at the Lindsay Divide DOT sensor on Oct. 17th from late morning through early evening with a maximum wind gust of 60 mph.
Sustained winds at or above 40 mph were common from mid-day through the early evening hours of Oct. 17th at the Sioux Pass DOT site.
The US-2 at Stateline DOT site measured sustained winds of 40 mph from mid day through the late evening hours.
Sustained winds near and in excess of 40 mph became common during the overnight and very early morning hours of Oct. 17th. The strongest winds were recorded between the midnight and 02:00 AM MST, with a maximum wind gust of 63 mph recorded at the Plentywood METAR site.
Sustained winds near and in excess 40 mph were recorded through the afternoon hours at the Saco US-2 DOT site.
Malta South US-191 DOT site measured sustained wind speeds near or well above 40 mph during the evening and late night hours on the 16th, then again during the afternoon hours on the 17th. A maximum wind gust of 85 mph was measured on the 16th at 20:40 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, October 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 415619, 415614, 415594, 416255, 415591, 414754, 416261, 416154, 416235, 416246, 416242, 416237, 416251, 416234, 414717, 415615.