A very strong cold front pushed through the region and kicked up some recently-fallen snow. Conditions in many locations were not quite as severe, but a few people reported whiteout conditions.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 very strong cold front pushed through the region and kicked up some recently-fallen snow. Conditions in many locations were not quite as severe, but a few people reported whiteout conditions.
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 Jan 8, 5:40 AM MST, 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 540 AM MST THU JAN 8 2015 .SHORT TERM...FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA...TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY... NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE INTO THE WEEKEND AS UPPER RIDGE REMAINS TO THE WEST AND UPPER TROUGH STAYS TO THE EAST. COLD FRONT MOVING SOUTH ACROSS EASTERN MONTANA EARLY THIS MORNING. INITIAL MIXING AS NORTHWEST WINDS DEVELOP HAS WARMED TEMPERATURES TEMPORARILY DURING THE NIGHT. COLD AIR ADVECTION WILL COOL THEM BACK DOWN THIS MORNING. SHORTWAVE TROUGH IN THE NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA DURING THE DAY TODAY. AN AREA OF MOISTURE THIS MORNING BETWEEN THE COLD FRONT AND THE SHORTWAVE COULD BRING A PERIOD OF LIGHT SNOW MAINLY TO THE SOUTHERN ZONES OF THE FORECAST AREA. THE MAIN CONCERN TODAY WILL BE STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS AND HOW MUCH OF THE EXISTING SNOW COVER WILL BLOW. AT THIS POINT...THERE IS ENOUGH SNOW COVER FOR BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW TO MAKE TRAVEL HAZARDOUS BUT NOT SURE IF THE BLOWING SNOW WILL REDUCE VISIBILITIES ENOUGH FOR BLIZZARD OR WHITEOUT CONDITIONS. WILL MAINTAIN WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THROUGH 03Z (8 PM) FOR NOW. WINDS WILL DIMINISH ENOUGH THIS EVENING TO END THE BLOWING SNOW BUT WITH TEMPERATURES FALLING WELL BELOW ZERO... WIND CHILLS 20 BELOW TO 40 BELOW WILL DEVELOP. WILL START A WIND CHILL ADVISORY THIS EVENING AND CONTINUE IT INTO FRIDAY MORNING. ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL BRING BITTER COLD TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE REGION TONIGHT. THAT HIGH REMAINS OVER EASTERN MONTANA ON FRIDAY WITH LIGHT WINDS AND MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES. A WEAK SHORTWAVE MOVES THROUGH THE AREA ON SATURDAY WHICH WILL BRING MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND SOMEWHAT WARMER TEMPERATURES. FORRESTER .LONG TERM...SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY... SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING...THE FLOW ALOFT ACROSS NORTHEAST MONTANA BECOMES MORE ZONAL WITH THE OCCASIONAL DISTURBANCE SLIDING THROUGH THE AREA. ONLY ONE OF THOSE DISTURBANCES SEEMS TO RESULT IN ANY PRECIP AT ALL. MODELS IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT SHOWING LIGHT AMOUNTS OF NEW SNOWFALL SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY FOR THE SW HALF OF OUR CWA...MAYBE UP TO AN INCH OF SNOW. TUESDAY AND BEYOND...A WEAK TO MODERATE UPPER-LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE SEEMS TO BE MAKING MORE AND MORE HEADWAY INTO THE FORECAST. MODELS SEEMS TO BE TRENDING TOWARD A WARMER AND DRIER PERIOD HERE. EXPECTING HIGHS IN THE 20S AND 30S WITH LOWS IN THE TEENS...BUT THIS ALSO REPRESENTS THE PORTION OF THE FORECAST WITH THE LOWEST AMOUNT OF CONFIDENCE GIVEN THE OVERALL MODEL ENSEMBLE SPREAD. SO GIVEN THIS INFORMATION...PERHAPS IT IS BEST TO BE CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC ABOUT A RESPITE FROM THE RECENT COLD WE HAVE BEEN EXPERIENCING LATELY...AT LEAST UNTIL MODELS COME INTO BETTER ALIGNMENT. BMICKELSON && .AVIATION... FLIGHT CATEGORY: A MIX VFR/MVFR/IFR TODAY AS BLOWING SNOW REDUCES VISIBILITY AT TIMES. VFR TONIGHT AS SKIES CLEAR. SYNOPSIS: A COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE WILL BRING A BRIEF CHANCE FOR SNOW TODAY ACCOMPANIED BY STRONG AND GUSTY NORTHWESTERLY WINDS. VSBY: VISIBILITIES ARE EXPECTED TO LESS THAN A MILE AT TIMES TODAY DUE TO BLOWING SNOW. FOR AREAS WHERE TEMPERATURES HAVE REMAINED COLD ENOUGH TO KEEP THE FALLEN SNOW LOOSE...DRIFTING PROBLEMS CAN BE EXPECTED FOR RUNWAYS. COLD: EXTREME COLD OF NEAR 20 BELOW WILL CAUSE MECHANICAL PROBLEMS FOR AIRCRAFT THURSDAY NIGHT. AREA WINDS: NORTHWEST 25 TO 40 KTS WITH HIGHER GUSTS THROUGH THE DAY. BMICKELSON/FORRESTER && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL ADVISORY FROM 5 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 11 AM MST FRIDAY FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS...CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY...DANIELS...DAWSON...EASTERN ROOSEVELT...GARFIELD... MCCONE...NORTHERN PHILLIPS...NORTHERN VALLEY...PETROLEUM... PRAIRIE...RICHLAND...SHERIDAN...SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS...WESTERN ROOSEVELT...WIBAUX. BLIZZARD WARNING UNTIL 5 PM MST THIS AFTERNOON FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS...CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY...DANIELS... DAWSON...EASTERN ROOSEVELT...GARFIELD...MCCONE...NORTHERN PHILLIPS...NORTHERN VALLEY...PETROLEUM...PRAIRIE...RICHLAND... SHERIDAN...SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS...WESTERN ROOSEVELT...WIBAUX. && WEATHER.GOV/GLASGOW
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 515 AM MST THU JAN 8 2015 MTZ016>027-059>062-091000- CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY- DANIELS-SHERIDAN-WESTERN ROOSEVELT-PETROLEUM-GARFIELD-MCCONE- RICHLAND-DAWSON-PRAIRIE-WIBAUX-NORTHERN PHILLIPS- SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS-NORTHERN VALLEY-EASTERN ROOSEVELT- 515 AM MST THU JAN 8 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A BLIZZARD WARNING IS IN EFFECT THROUGH 5 PM THIS EVENING. STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS OF 30 TO 45 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH COMBINED WITH LOOSE SNOW FROM PREVIOUS STORMS SYSTEMS WILL PRODUCE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WITH WHITEOUTS TODAY. A WIND CHILLS ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FROM 5 PM THIS AFTERNOON UNTIL 11 AM FRIDAY FOR WIND CHILLS 20 BELOW TO 40 BELOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY 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.
2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Trained spotter in Winnett reported a ground blizzard. Timing estimated.
Trained spotter located 10 NE Lindsay reported white-out conditions (ground blizzard) with sustained winds of 39 mph and gusts to 57 mph. Timing estimated from area observations.
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: 557266, 557267.