Strong westerly down-slope winds along the Rocky Mountain Front remained high over a few days as a generally westerly flow aloft remained in place. Stronger and gustier winds were felt through through a few favored passes and canyons along the Rocky Mountains.
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.
Strong westerly down-slope winds along the Rocky Mountain Front remained high over a few days as a generally westerly flow aloft remained in place. Stronger and gustier winds were felt through through a few favored passes and canyons along the Rocky Mountains.
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 Jan 9, 10:45 AM MST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 1045 AM MST Thu Jan 9 2014 Aviation section updated .UPDATE... Today...An upper level low pressure trof is moving across the zones. A cold front associated with this trof will bring slightly cooler air into the region. Will lower temps slightly across the central and northern zones because of this cooler air. Will continue the current high lights for wind. Current forecast on track. Zelzer && .AVIATION... Updated 1745z. Scattered snow showers will affect the Rocky Mountain Front and Southwest MT through the afternoon today. Visibilities will be reduced to less than 2 miles at times in heavier snow showers...with mountains be obscured. Expect breezy surface winds to develop later today and then generally to continue to remain breezy through Friday morning over the western half of North Central MT. Strong winds are expected to develop across the entire region by Friday afternoon. Brusda && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 440 AM MST Thu Jan 9 2014/ Today through Saturday...West to northwest flow will strengthen over Montana throughout the short term forecast. Moisture and upper level energy moving in from the Pacific will bring periods of snow to the Continental Divide. Mostly cloudy conditions, with the chance for a few isolated light snow showers, will be seen over the plains. Strong westerly down- slope winds should keep most precipitation from reaching the plains through the period. Winds along the Rocky Mountain Front will pick up today but are expected to remain below high wind criteria until sometime Thursday night. There may be some risk of strong and gusty winds through a few favored passes and canyons Thursday evening before more widespread winds develop early Friday. With this increased chance a High Wind Warning remains in effect for the Northern Rockies from early Friday morning into the weekend. A High Wind Warning has also been issued for much of Central Montana as winds will pick up across the plains Saturday. With strong winds across the region, expect relatively warm temperatures to continue with highs in the mid to upper 40s across much of Central Montana. Saturday Night through Thursday...Widespread strong wind event continues into Sat night and early Sun as shortwave trof makes its way across the state. Latest forecast models now in much better agreement than seen/discussed past few days concerning timing of the trofs passage through our region. Good confidence that the trof axis will be well into eastern MT by early-mid Sun morning. Residual moisture and instability behind the trof axis will generate some scattered snow showers, with bulk of the snow falling along the Continental Divide and southwest mountains. Cannot completely rule out some isolated showers over the central mountain ranges and over the central plains through Sun afternoon, but coverage will be spotty and accumulations light. The strong winds should decrease for several hours on Sun in the central and Hiline counties, but remain strong along the Rocky Mtn Front, and then increase again over all three areas Sun night into Mon as the gradient re-intensifies between a second shortwave cutting through central Canada and the strengthening high pressure ridge along the Pacific coast. Winds aloft will be more northwesterly on Mon which should make them about 10-15 mph less than what will be seen on Saturday, but still expect most/all of the affected area to see warning criteria winds (>58 mph) through Mon night. The aforementioned Canadian shortwave is also forecast to push a backdoor (moving NE to SW) cold front and accompanying light rain/snow showers into the eastern portions of the Hiline during the daytime hours Mon. Current GFS model solution weakens this front quite a bit from earlier runs, while the ECMWF is still carrying a broad precipitation area with the front. The Pacific ridge builds across the Northern Rockies on Wed with dry conditions and much reduced wind speeds. By Thurs, another shortwave trof will swing through central Canada, with its southern half reaching eastern parts of the Hiline and perhaps down to Chouteau/Fergus/Judith Basin counties, bringing another round of rain/snow showers. Waranauskas && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GTF 42 30 45 36 / 0 10 10 0 CTB 39 27 44 32 / 0 10 10 0 HLN 41 26 44 32 / 30 20 20 10 BZN 36 16 38 27 / 50 20 30 20 WEY 28 9 26 20 / 100 60 60 60 DLN 33 21 37 30 / 60 10 20 10 HVR 38 20 38 23 / 0 10 10 10 LWT 39 22 39 28 / 10 10 20 10 && .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING from 5 AM Saturday to 11 PM MST Monday Blaine...Broadwater...Cascade...Central and Southern Lewis and Clark...Chouteau...Eastern Pondera...Eastern Teton...Fergus... Hill...Judith Basin...Liberty...Meagher...Toole. HIGH WIND WARNING from Midnight tonight to 11 PM MST Monday Eastern Glacier...Northern Rocky Mountain Front...Southern Rocky Mountain Front. FLOOD WARNING until further notice for a portion of the Gallatin River near Gallatin Gateway. && weather.gov/greatfalls www.twitter.com/NWSGreatFalls www.facebook.com/US.NationalWeatherService.GreatFalls.gov
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 405 AM MST THU JAN 9 2014 MTZ009>014-044>051-053-054-101115- NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT-EASTERN GLACIER-HILL-CASCADE- CHOUTEAU-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN LEWIS AND CLARK-TOOLE-LIBERTY- EASTERN PONDERA-BLAINE-SOUTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT- EASTERN TETON-JUDITH BASIN-FERGUS-BROADWATER-MEAGHER- 405 AM MST THU JAN 9 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL MONTANA...NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT THURSDAY NIGHT INTO LATE MONDAY NIGHT FOR THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT EARLY SATURDAY MORNING INTO LATE MONDAY NIGHT FOR CENTRAL MONTANA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THE HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT INTO LATE MONDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... REPORTS OF STRONG WINDS OR WIND DAMAGE ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED. MTZ055-101115- GALLATIN- 405 AM MST THU JAN 9 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT FLOOD WARNING UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE FOR A PORTION OF THE GALLATIN RIVER NEAR GALLATIN GATEWAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY FLOOD WARNING UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE FOR A PORTION OF THE GALLATIN RIVER NEAR GALLATIN GATEWAY. WEST WINDS WILL PICK UP OVER THE WEEKEND BUT ARE CURRENTLY NOT EXPECTED TO REACH HIGH WIND CRITERIA. CONDITIONS WILL BE MONITORED FOR THE POTENTIAL OF HIGHLIGHT ISSUANCE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ANY REPORTS OF FLOODING ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED. MTZ008-015-052-101115- BEAVERHEAD-MADISON-JEFFERSON- 405 AM MST THU JAN 9 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THE PROBABILITY OF WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY WEST WINDS WILL PICK UP OVER THE WEEKEND BUT ARE CURRENTLY NOT EXPECTED TO REACH HIGH WIND CRITERIA. CONDITIONS WILL BE MONITORED FOR THE POTENTIAL OF HIGHLIGHT ISSUANCE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
30 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High winds measuring 55KT (64MPH) were reported 13 mi W of Bynum, MT at the Dellwo sensor.
High winds measuring 50KT (58MPH) were reported 1 mi E of East Glacier Park, MT at the Two Medicine Bridge DOT sensor.
High sustained winds measuring 36KT (41MPH) were reported 13 mi W of Bynum, MT at the Dellwo sensor.
High winds measuring 54KT (62MPH) were reported 1 mi E of East Glacier Park, MT at the Two Medicine Bridge DOT sensor.
High winds measuring 61KT (70MPH) were reported 6 mi E of Marysville, MT.
High winds measuring 55KT (63MPH) were reported 8 mi SW of Wolf Creek, MT at the Sieben Flats DOT sensor.
High winds measuring 50KT (58MPH) were reported 3 mi WNW of East Helena, MT at the Helena Airport ASOS.
High winds measuring 80KT (92MPH) were reported 13 mi WSW of Saint Mary, MT at the Logan Pass Visitor's Center.
High sustained winds measuring 35KT (40MPH) were reported 4 mi NNE of McAllister, MT at the Norris Hill DOT sensor. Peak sustained winds were 39KT (45MPH).
High winds measuring 51KT (59MPH) were reported 6 mi WNW of Browning, MT at the Starr-Browning Airstrip.
High winds measuring 67KT (77MPH) were reported 1 mi E of East Glacier Park, MT at the Two Medicine Bridge DOT sensor.
High winds measuring 71KT (82MPH) were reported 3 mi SW of Cut Bank, MT at the Cut Bank Airport ASOS.
High winds measuring 53KT (61MPH) were reported 2 mi SSE of Geyser, MT at the Geyser DOT sensor.
High winds estimated at 50KT (58MPH) blew an 18 inch diameter tree onto a home. Winds also blew a mobile home off its supporting blocks. Both were near Valier, MT.
High winds measuring 77KT (89MPH) were reported 13 mi W of Bynum, MT at the Dellwo sensor.
High winds measured at 52KT (60MPH) were reported 6 mi NNW of Sunburst, MT at the Sweetgrass DOT sensor.
High winds measuring 56KT (64MPH) were reported in Cascade, MT.
High winds measuring 52KT (60MPH) were reported 5 mi WSW of Great Falls, MT at the Great Falls Airport ASOS.
High sustained winds measuring 54KT (62MPH) were reported 1 mi SW of Three Forks, MT at the Three Forks Airport AWOS.
High winds measuring 62KT (71MPH) were reported in Martinsdale, MT.
High winds measuring 55KT (63MPH) were reported at the Malmstrom Air Force Base, MT ASOS.
High winds measuring 66KT (76MPH) were reported 13 mi E of Fairfield, MT.
High winds measuring 58KT (67MPH) were reported 7 mi SSW of Fort Benton, MT.
High winds measuring 100KT (115MPH) were reported 13 mi WSW of Saint Mary, MT at the Logan Pass Visitor's Center in Glacier National Park.
High winds measuring 71KT (82MPH) were reported 21 mi SE of Cascade, MT at the Millegan sensor.
High winds measuring 58KT (67MPH) were reported 5 mi ESE of Denton, MT.
High sustained winds measuring 36KT (42MPH) were reported 6 mi NE of Whitlash, MT.
High winds measuring 55KT (63MPH) were reported 10 mi S of Chinook, MT.
High winds measuring 52KT (60MPH) were reported 8 mi WNW of Whitehall, MT.
High winds measuring 51KT (59MPH) were reported at both the Ginger and Elkhorn RAWS stations.
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: 492305, 492306, 492307, 492308, 492309, 492310, 492311, 492312, 492314, 492313, 492320, 492323, 492324, 492326, 492325, 492327, 492328, 492329, 492331, 492341, 492342, 492343, 492344, 492345, 492346, 492347, 492349, 492348, 492350, 492351.