A cold arctic air mass and favorable atmospheric conditions allowed strong and gusty winds in excess of 60 mph to reach the surface across most of northeast Montana.
Every event with a place to put it; 10 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 cold arctic air mass and favorable atmospheric conditions allowed strong and gusty winds in excess of 60 mph to reach the surface across most of 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 Jan 25, 3:42 PM MST, 2 hours 48 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 342 PM MST SAT JAN 25 2014 .SHORT TERM...FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA...TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY... THE STAGE IS SET FOR A DRASTIC CHANGE IN SENSIBLE WEATHER BEGINNING LATER TONIGHT. AFTER A WARM AND BREEZY DAY TODAY...AN ARCTIC FRONT AND STORM SYSTEM IS QUICKLY DESCENDING SOUTHWARD THROUGH SASKATCHEWAN. THIS IS A SHORT-WAVE LOBE CONNECTED TO THE BROAD...LARGE-SCALE UPPER TROUGH SPREAD OVER THE EASTERN PORTION OF NORTH AMERICA. MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT SUPPORTING STRONG AND EVEN HIGH WINDS MOVING THROUGH THE AREA WITH THIS COLD FRONT. THE STRONG COLD AIR ADVECTION IS EXPECTED TO ALLOW THOSE STRONG WINDS AROUND 850 MB TO REACH DOWN AT LEAST TO THE MORE EXPOSED AND HIGH WIND-PRONE LOCATIONS AS EARLY AS LATE TONIGHT. DECIDED TO ISSUE A HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THOSE LOCATIONS. MODELS SHOWING THESE WINDS DROPPING OFF SUDDENLY BY SUNDAY EVENING. THE SUDDEN COLD AND WIND WILL ALSO CREATE DANGEROUSLY COLD WIND CHILLS FOR MOST OF THE CWA WITH VALUES DIPPING BELOW -40 FOR SOME NE LOCATIONS. CHOSE TO GO WITH A WIND CHILL WARNING THERE AND WIND CHILL ADVISORY ELSEWHERE EXCEPT PETROLEUM COUNTY WHERE CONDITIONS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE AS BAD. AS WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DIMINISH BELOW 10 MPH AS SOON AS MONDAY MORNING...FELT IT WAS ACCEPTABLE TO END THE WIND CHILL PRODUCTS AT THAT TIME...BUT TO PROVIDE SOME FLEXIBLE OPTIONS...NEXT SHIFT MAY EASILY CHOOSE TO EXTEND THE TIME OF THESE PRODUCTS IF SLIGHTLY STRONGER WINDS MAY PERSIST FOR A LONGER PERIOD OF TIME ON MONDAY. OF LESSER IMPACT BUT STILL WORTH MENTIONING IS THE SNOW WHICH WILL ACCOMPANY THIS COLD FRONT. DECIDED TO SPLIT SUNDAYS POPS AND WEATHER GRIDS INTO 3-HOURLIES TO SHOW THE EXPECTED RAPID TRANSITION OF THIS SYSTEM THROUGH THE CWA. IT SEEMS THAT MANY LOCATIONS WILL ONLY SEE A BRIEF ONE OR TWO-HOUR PERIOD OF ISOLATED SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW. GIVEN THIS FLEETING LESSER TIMING IMPACT FELT IT WAS BEST TO NOT INCLUDE ANY WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES AT THIS TIME. EXPECT AROUND ONE AND HALF INCHES OF SNOW SOUTH OF THE U L BEND AND LESSER AMOUNTS NORTH AND EAST OF THERE. BY MONDAY...THE SNOW WILL ALREADY BE WELL SOUTH OF OUR CWA AS CLEARING SKIES TAKE OVER AND BREEZY WINDS LINGER A WHILE. BMICKELSON .LONG TERM...MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY... UPDATE... THE INHERITED FORECAST WAS IN GOOD ORDER SO THE ONLY ADJUSTMENTS MADE WERE PRIMARILY POP...QPF AND SNOW AMOUNTS FOR WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THE LATEST GFS AND EC MODEL RUNS CONTINUE TO SHOW A HEALTHY DISTURBANCE ROLL THROUGH THE REGION WEDNESDAY. THE ALIGNMENT OF THE UPPER-LEVEL JET DYNAMICS... MOISTURE ADVECTION AND THE TIMING OF THE COLD AIR STREAMING IN AS THE SURFACE HIGH MIGRATES INTO NEMONT WILL ALL PLAY A ROLE IN HOW MUCH SNOW WILL FALL. AT THIS POINT THE GFS SOLUTION HAS THE JET TRACKING THROUGH THE HEART OF NEMONT WHEREAS THE EC SOLUTION IS OVER SOUTHERN MONTANA AND NORTHERN WYOMING... THEREFORE USED A BLEND OF BOTH. DEPENDING ON WHICH TRAJECTORY MATERIALIZES... FORECAST SNOW AMOUNTS MAY BE UNDER OR OVER DONE. ENSEMBLE SPREADS SUPPORT THIS HIGHER POP EVENT WITH CONFIDENCE. AEC PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...NORTHWEST FLOW WILL CONTINUE MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY. AFTER A COLD NIGHT MONDAY NIGHT... TEMPERATURES WILL MODERATE ON TUESDAY AS ARCTIC AIR MASS MOVES TO THE EAST. THE UPPER RIDGE TO THE WEST WEAKENS SOMEWHAT TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY TURNING THE FLOW ALOFT INTO A WNW DIRECTION FOR THE FORECAST AREA. THIS WILL BRING A MORE MOIST PACIFIC FLOW ALOFT INTO THE STATE WHICH WILL OVERRUN A QUASI-STATIONARY FRONT TO THE SOUTHWEST OF THE FORECAST AREA. THE SOUTHWEST PART OF THE FORECAST AREA MAY SEE SOME SNOW FROM THIS BUT THE BEST MOISTURE AND OVERRUNNING WILL STAY TO THE SOUTHWEST OF THE FORECAST AREA. MEANWHILE... A HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM IN SASKATCHEWAN WILL KEEP THE NORTHEAST ZONES MAINLY DRY AND SOMEWHAT COLDER THAN NORMAL. A SHORTWAVE RIDGE WILL BRING MAINLY DRY WEATHER FOR THURSDAY AND THEN A SHORTWAVE TROUGH DROPS SOUTH FROM BRITISH COLUMBIA AND THROUGH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST FOR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. NORTHEAST MONTANA WILL CONTINUE TO BE ON THE COLDER SIDE AND AT THIS POINT IT LOOKS LIKE THE MOISTURE WILL MAINLY STAY TO THE SOUTH AND WEST OF THE FORECAST AREA. FORRESTER && .AVIATION... VFR WITH VERY LIGHT RAIN/SNOW SHOWERS POSSIBLE THROUGH 12Z. AFTER 12Z HIGH MVFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITH THE MAIN IMPACT BEING MVFR CEILINGS AND SPOTTY MVFR VISIBILITY WITH ANY FALLING SNOW. A COLD FRONT WILL USHER IN STRONGER NORTHWEST WINDS THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS... REACHING THE PEAK FROM 12Z THROUGH 16Z THEN DIMINISHING SUNDAY AFTERNOON. PROTON/AEC && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING FROM 3 AM TO 5 PM MST SUNDAY FOR DANIELS... EASTERN ROOSEVELT...NORTHERN VALLEY...RICHLAND...SHERIDAN... SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS...WESTERN ROOSEVELT. WIND CHILL ADVISORY FROM 8 AM SUNDAY TO 8 AM MST MONDAY FOR EASTERN ROOSEVELT...NORTHERN VALLEY...RICHLAND...WESTERN ROOSEVELT...WIBAUX. WIND CHILL ADVISORY FROM 8 PM SUNDAY TO 8 AM MST MONDAY FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS...SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS. WIND CHILL ADVISORY FROM 2 PM SUNDAY TO 8 AM MST MONDAY FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY...DAWSON...GARFIELD...MCCONE... NORTHERN PHILLIPS...PRAIRIE. WIND CHILL WARNING FROM 2 PM SUNDAY TO 8 AM MST MONDAY FOR DANIELS...SHERIDAN. WIND CHILL ADVISORY FROM 8 AM TO 2 PM MST SUNDAY FOR DANIELS... SHERIDAN. && WEATHER.GOV/GLASGOW
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 318 PM MST SAT JAN 25 2014 MTZ016>027-059>062-261100- 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- 318 PM MST SAT JAN 25 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT COURTESY OF A STRONG ARCTIC COLD FRONT...HIGH WINDS WILL BEGIN TO AFFECT FAVORED ELEVATED TERRAIN AS EARLY AS LATE TONIGHT WITH PERIODS OF BLOWING SNOW POSSIBLE. CONTROLLING HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES WILL BECOME DIFFICULT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY ALONG AND BEHIND THE COLD FRONT...THE SUDDEN CHANGE IN WEATHER WILL PUSH THROUGH THE REGION ON SUNDAY. BRIEF PERIODS OF SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW AND HIGH WINDS ARE EXPECTED EARLY SUNDAY AS WELL AS DANGEROUSLY COLD WIND CHILLS FOR MOST LOCATIONS WHICH WILL LAST WELL INTO MONDAY. .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.
10 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Malta South US-191 DOT site recorded at wind gust of 58 mph at 6:30 PM on the 25th. Sustained winds diminished below 40 mph by 11:50 AM on the 26th.
A cooperative observer located 12 miles SSE of Opheim measured sustained winds of 35-40 mph and a peak wind gust of 71 mph at 4:00 AM on the 26th. Sustained winds generally diminished below 40 mph early that afternoon.
With winds of 20 to 30 mph common across most western Roosevelt County, a sudden peak wind gust of 70 mph was recorded at 4:26 AM on the 26th at the McDonalds MT-13 DOT site. Later that morning, a longer period of sustained winds of at least 40 mph lasted until 11:30 AM.
At the Stateline US-2 DOT site, a peak wind gust of 61 mph was recorded at 4:57 AM on the 26th. Sustained winds diminished below 40 mph by 10:25 AM.
Winds of 30 to 40 mph were common across most of Dawson County with a few gusts above 50 mph. A sudden peak wind gust of 70 mph was recorded at the Lindsay Divide MT-200 DOT site at 6:07 AM on the 26th. Sustained winds diminished below 40 mph by 8:40 AM.
At the Comertown Turn-Off MT-5 DOT site on the 26th, sustained winds of at least 40 mph began at 6:10 AM, peaked at 62 mph at 10:17 AM, and ended at 11:00 AM.
A peak wind gust of 63 mph was recorded at the King Coulee RAWS site at 6:44 AM on the 26th. Sustained winds diminished below 40 mph by 11:15 AM.
A 60 mph wind gust was recorded at the Lufborough Hill MT-200 DOT site at 7:36 AM on the 26th. Sustained wind diminished below 40 mph by 10:30 AM.
A peak wind gust of 58 mph was recorded at the mesonet site east of Fort Peck Dam at 8:50 AM on the 26th.
At the Big Sheep Mountain RAWS site, both sustained winds of at least 40 mph and a wind gust of 61 mph were recorded at 9:08 AM on the 26th. A peak wind gust of 63 mph was recorded at 10:08 AM. Sustained winds diminished below 40 mph by 11:30 AM.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, January 2014
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: 498584, 498585, 498583, 498586, 498590, 498582, 498587, 498588, 498589, 498591.