Southwest flow over the region brought strong west winds to the Rocky Mountains and portions of the adjacent plains. Widespread precipitation was seen over Central and Southwest Montana ahead of a low pressure sytem, associated with favorable dynamics and an upper level jet maximum.
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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.
Southwest flow over the region brought strong west winds to the Rocky Mountains and portions of the adjacent plains. Widespread precipitation was seen over Central and Southwest Montana ahead of a low pressure sytem, associated with favorable dynamics and an upper level jet maximum.
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 Mar 8, 4:16 AM MST, 7 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 416 AM MST Sat Mar 8 2014 .DISCUSSION... An upper level ridge of high pressure will gradually shift east across the Northern Rockies today, providing the forecast area with generally clear, dry and mild conditions. Cold pool still lingers at elevations below 3000 ft along the Marias, Milk and Missouri Rivers, but should erode quickly this morning as SW winds overspread the region. Already seeing localized strong west winds along the northern Rocky Mtn Front and expect winds to increase and expand eastward late this afternoon and evening as the ridge axis shifts east and winds aloft increase from the west. The upper ridge continues to flatten tonight with strong west flow aloft overspreading much of the forecast area. A high wind warning is already in effect for the Rocky Mtn Front region with the rest of Glacier county and areas near the Sweetgrass Hills seeing strong winds develop by this evening. Pressure gradient between a lee-side trough over north central MT and high pressure over the Yellowstone Park region should support strong south winds over Norris Hill in Madison county beginning this evening and continuing through Sunday morning. Potential for strong winds also exists over much of the remainder of north central MT late tonight through Sunday, especially over areas near the continental divide as well as areas to the north and east of the Little Belt, Highwood and Bears Paw Mtns. By Sunday night an upper level trough of low pressure moves onto the west coast and into the interior western US on Monday. Winds will diminish Sunday night and shift to the NW over north central MT by Monday morning in response to low pressure developing over SW MT and WY. Models continue to advertise the development of widespread precipitation over Central and SW MT on Monday ahead of the upper trough and associated with favorable dynamics to the north of an upper level jet maximum moving into WY. Northern edge of the precipitation shield is where models still have some difficultly with ECMWF model depicting the widespread precip as far north as Great Falls while GFS and NAM models keep the bulk of the precipitation along and south of a Helena to Lewistown line. Snow levels will be lowering late Sunday night through Monday as cooling aloft occurs with the incoming trough. At this point significant accumulations (in excess of 6") look to be limited to areas above pass levels, but this will need to be monitored for possible winter weather highlights as snow levels lower to near valley floors/plains by Monday afternoon. Temperatures will warm to upper 40s and 50s this afternoon with very mild overnight low temps expected tonight due to increased winds and cloud-cover. The mild start Sunday morning and gusty west winds through the day will help boost temperatures into the 50s to near 60 at many lower elevation locations Sunday afternoon. Temperatures will cool to the 30s and 40s on Monday. Monday night through Saturday...Medium range period starts off with an upper level wave sweeping across Montana Monday night and Tuesday. As this feature moves southward early in the period widespread precipitation over the southern third of Montana will taper off and move out of the state. Upper level ridging builds across the western states on Wednesday but the remainder of the time period will be marked by a somewhat unsettled northwesterly flow aloft with occasional disturbances moving over Montana. Models continue to keep temperatures near of above seasonal averages through the week with generally breezy conditions expected over the north central plains. At this time, models suggest that any precipitation should be confined to the western and southwest mountains from mid-week onward through the weekend. However, with a somewhat unsettled and inherently unpredictable northwesterly flow aloft, have trended pops toward climatology for the end of the week and into the weekend. mpj && .AVIATION... UPDATED 0513Z. High pressure aloft will continue to build over central Montana through Saturday. Generally dry conditions are expected, the exception being isolated snow showers over the mountains. Surface winds will strengthen and become gusty Saturday afternoon. VFR conditions will prevail through the next 24 hours. && .HYDROLOGY... Snowmelt runoff will continue to contribute to lowland flooding in areas of poor drainage across much of central and southwest MT. As temperatures warm significantly over the weekend, snowmelt will likely increase across additional areas of north central and southwest Montana. Therefore, a hydrologic statement was issued for these areas, addressing the increasing threat for additional flooding, especially in poor drainage areas, and the potential for further flood statements. Coulston/Hoenisch && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GTF 53 42 60 33 / 0 0 0 30 CTB 47 39 56 28 / 0 10 10 10 HLN 50 33 55 33 / 0 0 10 70 BZN 46 30 52 33 / 0 0 10 40 WEY 40 23 43 34 / 0 0 30 80 DLN 46 30 48 30 / 0 0 10 60 HVR 47 34 57 28 / 0 10 10 10 LWT 52 39 57 34 / 0 0 10 20 && .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WATCH from late tonight through Sunday evening Blaine...Cascade...Central and Southern Lewis and Clark... Chouteau...Eastern Pondera...Eastern Teton...Hill...Judith Basin. HIGH WIND WARNING until 9 PM MDT Sunday Northern Rocky Mountain Front...Southern Rocky Mountain Front. HIGH WIND WARNING from 5 PM MST this afternoon to 9 PM MDT Sunday Eastern Glacier...Liberty...Toole. HIGH WIND WARNING from 5 PM MST this afternoon to 9 PM MDT Sunday For Route 287 over Norris Hill in Madison County. && weather.gov/greatfalls www.twitter.com/NWSGreatFalls www.facebook.com/US.NationalWeatherService.GreatFalls.gov
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
9 high wind, 6 heavy snow, 3 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
High winds measuring 55KT (63MPH) reported 1 mi E of East Glacier Park, MT at the Two Medicine DOT sensor.
High sustained winds measuring 36KT (42MPH) reported 4 mi NNE of McAllister, MT at the Norris Hill DOT sensor.
High sustained winds measuring 40KT (46MPH) reported 8 mi WNW of Whitlash, MT at the Sunburst sensor.
High sustained winds measuring 66KT (76MPH) reported 6 mi NE of Whitlash, MT.
High winds measuring 53KT (61MPH) reported 3 mi SW of Cut Bank, MT at the Cut Bank Airport ASOS.
High winds measured at 54KT (62MPH) were reported 8 mi SSW of Fort Benton, MT.
High winds measured at 58KT (67MPH) were reported 12 mi NNE of Augusta, MT at the Hodgkiss Ranch sensor.
High wind gusts, peaking at 71KT (82MPH), were reported 8 mi ENE of Choteau, MT.
High sustained winds, peaking at 38KT (44MPH), were reported 2 mi SSE of Geyser, MT at the Geyser DOT sensor.
Heavy snow measuring 8.0 inches in 24 hours was reported 5 mi W of Big Sky, MT; elevation 7200ft.
Heavy snow measuring 6.0 inches in 12 hours was reported 10 mi SSE of Neihart, MT.
Heavy snow measuring 6.0 inches in 12 hours was reported 21 mi W of Neihart, MT.
Heavy snow measuring 11.0 inches in 12 hours was reported 15 mi SW of Dupuyer, MT at the Dupuyer Creek SNOTEL; elevation 5750ft.
Heavy snow measuring 6.0 inches in 12 hours was reported 16 mi NW of Wolf Creek, MT.
Heavy snow measuring 9.0 inches in 12 hours was reported 13 mi ESE of Gallatin Gateway, MT at the Lick Creek SNOTEL; elevation 6860ft.
Runoff from snow-melt caused river levels to rise. Water has come out of Clear Creek and flowed across roads, flooding low lying areas and secondary roads.
Ice jam formation along the Missouri River caused flooding at the James Kipp State Park recreation area.
Snow-melt caused the river's water level to exceed flood stage from the Fresno Reservoir north to the Canadian border. No damage was reported.
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, March 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: 502150, 502153, 502156, 502159, 502165, 502166, 502168, 502170, 502172, 502102, 502097, 502098, 502099, 502100, 502101, 502203, 502204, 502205.