Isolated strong winds developed over northern portions of Central Montana.
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.
Isolated strong winds developed over northern portions of Central 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 Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 7, 11:05 AM MST, 2 hours 55 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 1105 AM MST Wed Jan 7 2015 UPDATE TO AVIATION .DISCUSSION... Update forthcoming. Have lowered temperatures across portions of the area this afternoon. Southwest winds still forecast to increase this afternoon and aid in warmer readings. As of now, winds are slow to develop and temperatures remain cold. Also lowered PoPs across central Montana. Added blowing snow to the northwest portion of the county warning area. && .AVIATION... UPDATED 1805Z. A northwesterly flow aloft will continue over north central, central, and southwest Montana through at least Thursday morning. Predominant conditions are areas of mid/high cloudiness passing overhead for now. However, areas of low MVFR ceilings in the SW Montana valleys will continue to dissipate through 21Z. Breezy southerly winds are also causing areas of blowing snow and localized IFR conditions (including the KCTB terminal area). These conditions should also decrease through 00Z as winds shift more westerly and temperatures begin to warm. A disturbance in the flow aloft will then bring a cold front south through the area, shifting winds more northerly beginning along the Hi-Line (KCTB/KHVR) around 03Z and through the KGTF/KLWT areas by 12Z. The front will then move through the KHLN and KBZN areas through 16Z. Widespread light snow with at least MVFR conditions and mountain obscuration will develop around 2 to 4 hours after the frontal passage. Coulston && .PREV DISCUSSION...Issued 345 AM MST Wed Jan 7 2015 Wednesday through Friday...A quieter weather pattern is in store for the rest of the week as northwesterly flow aloft continues to keep cold temperatures in the plains of Central and North Central Montana while warm temperatures will dominate the valleys of Southwest Montana. Wednesday will be the one warm day for the high plains adjacent to the Rocky Mountain Front and Mountains of Central Montana. A weak induced shortwave ridge will move over the area today, allowing a push of the warmer temperatures, along with some reinforcing chinook winds. Temperatures are expected to climb into the upper 30s in the plains affected by this impulse while locations like Havre are expected to remain in the colder temperatures. A back door cold front associated with a weak upper level shortwave trough is expected to move back into the area by Thursday morning pushing the cold temps back across the plains and bringing some additional light snowfall Thursday. The colder temperatures are expected to remain on Friday. Suk Friday night through Wednesday...Medium range models continue to show some differences in upper air patterns, but both models generally agree that this period will be relatively quiet. West to northwest flow aloft will dominate during the entire period while a series of week disturbances push through the northern Rockies. The weekend period will start out with cold air remaining over the northeastern portion of my forecast area and much warmer air over the southwest. Over time, the cold air is pushed eastward and temperatures across the entire forecast area will return to near or above seasonable averages. Breezy conditions will prevail over the plains while isolated mountain snow showers linger along the Continental Divide through the entire forecast period. mpj && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GTF 38 17 21 -7 / 20 20 50 20 CTB 32 12 15 -12 / 20 40 40 10 HLN 34 21 26 2 / 10 10 40 20 BZN 37 19 29 3 / 10 10 40 30 WEY 39 20 35 3 / 10 20 10 10 DLN 45 28 35 15 / 0 10 10 20 HVR 19 10 15 -18 / 10 40 40 0 LWT 40 15 23 -11 / 20 20 60 10 && .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && weather.gov/greatfalls www.twitter.com/NWSGreatFalls www.facebook.com/NWSGreatFalls
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High wind gusts, measuring 59KT (68MPH), were reported 17 mi W of Pendroy, MT.
High wind gusts, measuring 53KT (61MPH), were reported 2 mi E of Inverness, MT at the Inverness DOT sensor.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, January 2015
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: 552743, 552744.