Winter Storm in Montana, October 3, 2012

Name: Winter Storm in Montana, October 3, 2012
Start: 2012-10-03T05:41
End: 2012-10-03T14:55
Location: Montana

October 3, 2012 · NWS TFX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Heavy snow along the Rocky Mountain Front caused difficult travel conditions over mountain passes and hazardous mountain weather conditions for outdoor recreation.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS TFX wrote it up.

Heavy snow along the Rocky Mountain Front caused difficult travel conditions over mountain passes and hazardous mountain weather conditions for outdoor recreation.

What forecasters said that day

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 Oct 3, 5:20 AM MST, 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 3, 5:20 AM MST, 21 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 3, 4:52 AM MST, 49 minutes before

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In the hours before

Local storm report, Oct 3, 4:09 AM MST, 1 hour 32 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
509 AM MDT WED OCT 03 2012

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0506 AM     HEAVY SNOW       1 NW HEART BUTTE        48.30N 112.85W
10/03/2012  M6.0 INCH        GLACIER            MT   CO-OP OBSERVER

            OBSERVER MEASURED 1.10 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION AND 5.5
            INCHES OF SNOWFALL SINCE 6 PM YESTERDAY.

&&

JNS

Event by event

2 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, North Rocky Mountain Front

When: October 3, 5:41 AM MST to 2:55 PM MST
Where: North Rocky Mountain Front forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet

Many Glacier Snotel measures 7 inches of snowfall in 12 hours. Elevation 4900 feet.

Winter Storm, Southern Rocky Mountain Front

When: October 3, 9:36 AM MST to 2:55 PM MST
Where: Southern Rocky Mountain Front forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet

Mount Lockhart Snotel measures 11.0 inches of snow in 12 hours. Elevation 6400 feet.

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Montana in 2012 Every state in 2012 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, October 2012

Sources

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: 416577, 416578.