A strong cold front and favorable atmospheric conditions allowed strong and very gusty winds to mix down to the surface.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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 cold front and favorable atmospheric conditions allowed strong and very gusty winds to mix down to the surface.
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 Mar 9, 4:55 PM MST, 48 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 555 PM MDT SUN MAR 9 2014 .SHORT TERM...FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA...TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY... TONIGHT AND MONDAY WILL SEE A CHANGE AS A WEAK CLIPPER MOVES ACROSS THE PRAIRIE PROVINCES SENDING A COLD FRONT SOUTH INTO MONTANA. ADDITIONALLY...AN EASTERN PACIFIC SHORTWAVE TROUGH PUSHES INTO THE NORTHWEST COAST...DIRECTING A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF PACIFIC MOISTURE INTO THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. MONDAY MORNING THE COLD FRONT WILL TIGHTEN UP NEAR THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF OUR CWA. THE RESULT WITH THE OVERRUNNING MOISTURE WILL BE AN INCREASING CHANCE FOR RAIN FOR OUR SOUTHERN COUNTIES. STRONG FORCING AS INDICATED BY DIV Q AND OMEGA SUGGESTS FAIRLY SUBSTANTIAL QPF INITIALLY IN OUR SW THAT SHIFTS SOUTH INTO THE BILLINGS/SOUTHEAST MONTANA CWA TONIGHT. MODELS HAVE BEEN FLOPPING AROUND FOR THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS...BUT SEEM TO BE FINALLY FIRMING UP FOR MONDAY AFTERNOON WITH AROUND A QUARTER TO A THIRD OF AN INCH OF QPF OVER PETROLEUM COUNTIES...DIMINISHING TO THE EAST AND NORTH. WHEN THE PRECIPITATION BEGINS THE MODEL SOUNDINGS INDICATE RAIN. AS THE PRECIPITATION SHIFTS SOUTH THE RAIN SHOULD TRANSITION ALL SNOW MONDAY EVENING BEFORE ENDING. THE AMOUNT OF PRECIPITATION COULD AGGRAVATE THE FLOODING SITUATION FOR THE RIVERS UPSTREAM WHICH ARE IN THE PROCESS OF BREAKING UP. SEE THE HYDRO DISCUSSION. WIND HAS BEEN BLOWING HARD AND GUSTY TODAY OVER THE CENTRAL MONTANA FRONT RANGE AND PRAIRIE. BUT IT BECOMES WEAKER NEAR THE WESTERN BORDER OF THE OUR CWA. BUFKIT SHOWS THE STRONG WIND TO DROP OFF QUICKLY NEAR 00Z. THEREFORE DO NOT PLAN TO EXTEND THE HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE ZORTMAN AREA PAST 00Z. WITH THE COLD FRONT AND WEAK CAA...TEMPERATURES TONIGHT SHOULD FALL BELOW FREEZING NORTH OF THE HI-LINE...BUT LIKELY REMAIN ABOVE FREEZING NEAR THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF OUR CWA. WITH A COOLER START TO THE DAY AND CLOUD COVER....TEMPERATURES FOR MONDAY WILL BE COOLER THAN TODAY...AROUND 10F-15F COOLER...MUCH CLOSER TO NORMAL. WHILE NORTHERLY WIND CONTINUES THROUGH TUESDAY...INCREASED SUNSHINE AS THE TROUGH MOVES FARTHER SOUTH WILL RESULT IN SIMILAR TEMPERATURES TO MONDAY. SCT .LONG TERM...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY... MODELS NEXT WEEKEND SHOWED A RIDGE MOVING IN WITH WARMER TEMPS TO FOLLOW. ADJUSTED TEMPS SLIGHTLY TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS DIFFERENCE. REST OF THE PERIOD LOOKED GOOD. TFJ PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... SOMEWHAT PROGRESSIVE FLOW EXPECTED THROUGH THE EXTENDED PERIOD WITH A SERIES OF SHORTWAVES ROUNDING THE LONGWAVE RIDGE THAT SETS UP ALONG THE WEST COAST INTO WESTERN CANADA. THIS PUTS NORTHEAST MONTANA UNDER NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. THE FIRST OF THE SHORTWAVES TRACKS THROUGH CENTRAL CANADA ON THURSDAY. WARM AIR SPREADS ACROSS THE REGION AHEAD OF THIS WAVE ON WEDNESDAY. THE TRACK OF THE WAVE IS EXPECTED TO BE FAR ENOUGH NORTH TO KEEP PRECIPITATION CHANCES IN CANADA BUT IT WILL BACK A COLD FRONT INTO THE STATE. THIS BOUNDARY LINGERS OVER CENTRAL MONTANA THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. THE NEXT SHORTWAVE IS EXPECTED TO TRACK ACROSS THE STATE ON SATURDAY AND SLIDE A SURFACE WAVE ALONG THIS BOUNDARY. THIS WILL BRING THE BEST CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION TO THE REGION DURING THE PERIOD...AND WITH THE POSITION OF THE COLD BOUNDARY COULD SEE A MIX OF PRECIPITATION TYPES. EBERT && .AVIATION... VFR. WINDS WILL DIMINISH QUICKLY LATE THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING. THE NEXT DISTURBANCE WILL BRING WIDESPREAD RAIN AND MVFR CONDITIONS WELL TO THE SOUTH AND WEST OF THE TAF SITES MONDAY. TFJ && .HYDROLOGY... WITH ANOTHER WARM DAY...HIGHER LEVELS AND ICE JAMS SOUTH OF THE AREA CONTINUE TO BE WATCHED. SPIKES ON RIVER GAUGES IN SOME AREAS (REDWATER AND BIG DRY CREEKS) ARE NOT BEING SEEN BY OBSERVERS TODAY AND THEREFORE NO ADDITIONAL ADVISORIES AN/OR STATEMENTS HAVE BEEN ISSUED. RAINFALL OVER SOUTHERN MONTANA MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT IS EXPECTED TO KEEP A THREAT GOING ALONG THE YELLOWSTONE AND MUSSELSHELL RIVER VALLEYS INTO TUESDAY. DRY AND MILD CONDITIONS LATER IN THE WEEK SHOULD ALLEVIATE CONDITIONS LATER IN THE WEEK. && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && WEATHER.GOV/GLASGOW
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 553 PM MDT SUN MAR 9 2014 MTZ021-101200- PETROLEUM- 553 PM MDT SUN MAR 9 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHERN PETROLEUM COUNTY INCLUDING FLATWILLOW CREEK. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY FLOODING CONCERNS ARE EXPECTED TO LINGER INTO NEXT WEEK AS WARM TEMPERATURES AND POSSIBLY A RAIN EVENT ON MONDAY CONTINUE SNOWMELT RUNOFF. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. MTZ025-026-101200- DAWSON-PRAIRIE- 553 PM MDT SUN MAR 9 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT CURRENTLY THERE ARE ICE JAMS ON THE YELLOWSTONE AND POWDER RIVERS UPSTREAM FROM PRAIRIE AND DAWSON COUNTIES. THIS ICE IS EXPECTED TO MOVE DOWNSTREAM OVER THE NEXT DAY OR TWO AND COULD BRING NEW JAMS WITH POSSIBLE LOW LAND FLASH FLOODING TO PRAIRIE AND DAWSON COUNTIES. WARM TEMPERATURES AND A RAIN EVENT ON MONDAY WILL CONTINUE TO CAUSE RUNOFF AND ICE JAM FLOODING CONCERNS THROUGH THE WEEK. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY ICE JAM CONCERNS WILL CONTINUE ALONG THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER THROUGH MID WEEK. .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.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Consistent sustained winds of at least 40 mph began at 5:43 PM and ended at 7:13 PM at the Malta South US-191 DOT site. Wind gusts of 58 mph were recorded from 6:15 PM to 6:25 PM.
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: 502961.