A very wet and slow-moving low pressure system stalled over Montana and directed near-continuous rainfall over central and northeastern portions of the state for several days.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 very wet and slow-moving low pressure system stalled over Montana and directed near-continuous rainfall over central and northeastern portions of the state for several days.
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 Aug 31, 8:12 PM MST, 3 hours 48 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 912 PM MDT SUN AUG 31 2014 .SHORT TERM...FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA...TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY... A WEAK SHORT WAVE TROUGH MOVING THROUGH SASKATCHEWAN WILL CREATE ISOLATED SHOWERS AND POSSIBLE THUNDER TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. BOTH THE GFS AND THE NAM HAVE SOME DIFFICULTY IN PICKING UP THESE SHOWERS...BUT THEY ARE EVIDENT IN THE HRRR MODEL WHICH HAS BEEN MORE SUCCESSFUL. OTHER THAN THE ISOLATED NATURE OF THE SHOWERS THERE WILL BE MORE CLEAR SKY THAN LAST NIGHT. WITH EVENING WIND RAPIDLY DIMINISHING AND A CONTINUED WET GROUND...PATCHY FOG IS POSSIBLE AGAIN TONIGHT...MAINLY NEAR THE RIVER BOTTOMS. SO EXPANDED SLIGHTLY POPS AND WX GRIDS. SCT PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... SYNOPTIC SET UP...HOT HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN BOTTLED UP OVER THE DESERT SOUTHWEST. ACROSS THE NORTHWESTERN QUARTER OF THE CONUS A LARGE TROUGH WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION AND SLOWLY BROADEN. THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY...COOLING TROUGH INFLUENCE ON THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE WILL KEEP THE AREA DESTABILIZED THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS TODAY AND TUESDAY ALLOWING FOR LIMITED CHANCES FROM RAIN ACROSS THE CWA. MAIN AREAS OF FOCUS ARE ALONG THE NORTHEASTERN CORNER OF THE CWA WHERE A PAIR OF SHORTWAVE PULSES WILL MOVE BY AND LATCH ONTO PEAK HEATING. OVERNIGHT...A CHANCE EXISTS FOR PATCHY FOG NEAR RIVER BOTTOMS. SLIGHT INVERSION IS ANTICIPATED TO SET IN NEAR THE SURFACE WITH VERY LIGHT WINDS DURING THE MID MORNING HOURS. MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE DESERT SOUTHWEST WILL EXPEND NORTH DURING THIS PERIOD AND GENERATE A WEAK...BROAD RIDGE. AS THE RIDGE MOVES IN IS SHOULD PUSH THE THREAT FOR SHOWERS NORTHS AND GRADUALLY WARM THE CWA UP. GAH .LONG TERM...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY... MODELS HAVE FOCUSED MORE QPF/POP ON THE CWA FOR WED AND NOT SO MUCH FOR FRI. SURROUNDING OFFICES ALSO SAW THIS TREND...SO GRIDS WERE ADJUSTED TOWARD THIS TREND. LOWERED HUMIDITY FOR LATE IN THE WEEK AS WELL. TFJ PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... THE EXTENDED PERIOD BEGINS TUESDAY NIGHT WITH SHALLOW RIDGE IN PLACE OVER MONTANA. THIS RIDGE WILL THEN BE AMPLIFIED SLIGHTLY OVER EASTERN MONTANA AS AN UPPER TROUGH BEGINS TO DIG INTO THE PAC-NW. THE TROUGH...CURRENTLY STRETCHING ACROSS THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS...WILL MOVE INTO WASHINGTON/ OREGON TUESDAY EVENING. THIS QUICK MOVING WAVE SENDS A COLD FRONT ACROSS MONTANA SOMETIME WEDNESDAY. THE EC AND GFS HAVE NOT SETTLED ON THE EXACT TIMING YET. BUT THE FRONT SHOULD INITIATE SOME SHOWER ACTIVITY. ALTHOUGH MODELS CARRY MOST PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE SOUTHERN CANADIAN PRAIRIE...THE STRENGTH OF THE COLD FRONT JUSTIFIES AT LEAST SLIGHT CHANCE POPS. 850MB TEMPERATURES OF AROUND 14C TO 16C WILL DROP TO 6C TO 8C WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THIS GENERAL COOLING WILL LAST AT LEAST THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT. AS THE TROUGH MOVES EAST ACROSS THE REGION ANOTHER TROUGH SPLITS OFF ALONG THE WEST COAST. BY FRIDAY THIS WILL PLACE THE LOCAL REGION BETWEEN TROUGH WITH GENERALLY ZONAL FLOW ALOFT. THEN BY FRIDAY NIGHT/SATURDAY ANOTHER STRONG WORKS ITS WAY ACROSS THE CANADIAN PRAIRIE WHICH NUDGES ANOTHER COLD FRONT TO THE SOUTH. THIS COULD KEEP THE LID IN TEMPERATURES FOR ANOTHER DAY. SCT && .AVIATION... VFR. ISOLATED SHOWERS/TSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DISSIPATE THIS EVENING. ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOWERS/TSTORMS WILL DEVELOP NORTH AND EAST OF A KGGW-KGDV AGAIN MONDAY AFTERNOON. LIGHT WINDS WILL INCREASE FROM THE WEST MONDAY AFTERNOON. TFJ/PROTON && .HYDROLOGY... FLOOD WARNINGS REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR THE LOWER MILK RIVER IN VALLEY COUNTY AND BEAVER CREEK IN EASTERN PHILLIPS. ON BEAVER CREEK...THE WATER LEVEL AT THE GAUGE NEAR SACO REMAINS ABOVE THE 11 FT FLOOD STAGE...BUT CONTINUES TO SLOWLY FALL. ON THE MILK RIVER...THE LEVELS AT TAMPICO AND GLASGOW CONTINUE TO SHOW A SLOW FALL. WATER LEVELS AT TAMPICO SHOULD DROP BELOW FLOOD STAGE ABOUT MONDAY AFTERNOON BUT NOT FALL BELOW FLOOD STAGE AT GLASGOW UNTIL LATE IN THE WEEK. THE RIVER HAS FALLEN BELOW FLOOD STAGE AT NASHUA. && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && WEATHER.GOV/GLASGOW
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 259 PM MDT SUN AUG 31 2014 MTZ016-017-011200- CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY- 259 PM MDT SUN AUG 31 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT RIVER FLOOD WARNINGS REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR THE MILK RIVER AT TAMPICO AND GLASGOW. AN AREAL FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE BEAVER CREEK UPSTREAM OF HINSDALE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .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.
3 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Continuing with flooding through the end of August, the Milk River at Glasgow - Highway 24 bridge (GLWM8) rose above flood stage and crested in August, then fell back down below flood stage at 11:35 AM MST on September 3rd.
Continuing with flooding through the end of August, the Milk River at Tampico (TMPM8) rose above flood stage and crested in August, then fell back down below flood stage at 12:30 AM MST on September 1st.
Record rainfall in late August caused sustained high water and flooding at Beaver Creek near Hinsdale (BCHM8). It rose again above its flood stage of 14 feet at 6:12 AM MST on September 3rd, crested at 14.67 feet at 6:43 PM MST on September 4th, and fell back down below flood stage at 10:30 PM MST on September 6th.
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, September 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: 539569, 539570, 539568.