Winter Storm in Montana, November 24 to 25, 2015

Name: Winter Storm in Montana, November 24 to 25, 2015
Start: 2015-11-24T04:30
End: 2015-11-25T08:00
Location: Montana

November 24 to 25, 2015 · NWS MSO · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 8 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $233,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 8

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS MSO wrote it up.

An arctic front passed through western Montana during a very busy holiday travel week, occurring on the days immediately preceding Thanksgiving. Strong winds, snow, blowing snow, and flash-freezing of roadways impacted most of the Northern Rockies. Dangerous travel conditions with hundreds of stranded vehicles and crashes lead to the Missoula County Sheriff to declare emergency-only travel due to extreme hazardous weather conditions . Other valleys saw similar conditions with multiple inches of snow coupled with breezy winds.

What forecasters said that day

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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 23, 2:59 PM MST, 13 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 23, 2:59 PM MST, 13 hours 31 minutes before

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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Lower Clark Fork Region

When: November 24, 4:30 AM MST to November 25, 3:00 AM MST
Where: Lower Clark Fork Region forecast zone
Property damage: $14,000
Reported by: Department of Highways
Coordinates: 47.286, -114.685 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lookout Pass recorded 5 inches of snow during the event. A trained spotter reported a brief period of freezing drizzle before snow started. Seven slide-offs were recorded in the area throughout the day. Hwy 200 was especially bad during this storm, with several accidents and one semi truck getting stuck.

Winter Storm, West Glacier Region

When: November 24, 7:30 AM MST to November 25, 12:00 AM MST
Where: West Glacier Region forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 47.971, -114.069 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The public reported 4 inches of snow in Coram, and 3 inches in West Glacier. Winds gusting into the 30+ mph range cause blowing snow and low visibility at times.

Winter Storm, Kootenai/Cabinet Region

When: November 24, 8:00 AM MST to 8:00 PM MST
Where: Kootenai/Cabinet Region forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 48.171, -114.863 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A trained spotter in Troy reported 4 inches during the morning hours. Another spotter reported 3.5 inches of snow north of Noxon, MT. Roads crews reported black ice on roads causing hazardous driving conditions.

Winter Storm, Flathead/Mission Valleys

When: November 24, 8:00 AM MST to November 25, 12:00 AM MST
Where: Flathead/Mission Valleys forecast zone
Property damage: $120,000
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 47.872, -114.424 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Trained spotters reported between 3 to 5.8 inches of snow in Kalispell during the day, with drifts up to a foot and a half deep. Winds at the Glacier Park International Airport ASOS gusted to around 40 mph during the morning and afternoon, peaking at 41 mph in the late morning. Roads became very slick by the afternoon. Local law enforcement reported that snow and wind had caused over 60 vehicle accidents or slide-offs in the Flathead Valley.

Winter Storm, Butte / Blackfoot Region

When: November 24, 11:00 AM MST to November 25, 8:00 AM MST
Where: Butte / Blackfoot Region forecast zone
Deaths: 0 direct, 1 indirect
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 46.306, -113.025 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy snow began falling during the late morning. Along I-90, a fatal accident occurred when a pickup truck lost control on the icy roads and went into a fence. Trained spotters reported between 5.3 to 3 inches from Anaconda to Butte.

Winter Storm, Potomac / Seeley Lake Region

When: November 24, 12:00 PM MST to November 25, 7:00 AM MST
Where: Potomac / Seeley Lake Region forecast zone
Property damage: $4,000
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 46.986, -113.597 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The public reported an estimated 6 inches of snow with this storm near Potomac. Highway 200 was snow-covered and slick, with multiple slide-offs. Area SNOTELs reported between 2 to 7 inches of snow, depending on location.

Winter Storm, Missoula / Bitterroot Valleys

When: November 24, 2:00 PM MST to November 25, 8:00 AM MST
Where: Missoula / Bitterroot Valleys forecast zone
Property damage: $80,000
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 46.560, -114.023 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

There were widespread spotter reports of 3 to 4 inches of snow in Missoula during the afternoon and evening of 11/24. The highest report was 7.2 inches in the upper South Hills neighborhood of Missoula. The Missoula County Sheriff's office requested emergency travel only due to extreme hazardous weather conditions. This is their highest level of travel alert, and a significant impact to travel during the evening commute. The general travel ban lasted 3 hrs, and during this time, vehicles and buses were unable to drive up to houses in the hills around Missoula due to slick roads. Over 40 accidents and slide-offs occurred in Missoula & Bitterroot Valleys during this time frame. Many schools cancelled class the next day due to continued slick roads.

Winter Storm, Bitterroot / Sapphire Mountains

When: November 24, 2:00 PM MST to November 25, 8:00 AM MST
Where: Bitterroot / Sapphire Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: SNOTEL
Coordinates: 46.508, -113.828 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Nine inches of snow fell at Lolo Pass during the event, with snow-covered roads and slick driving conditions.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Winter Storm, Butte / Blackfoot Region	2015-11-24		Female	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Indirect

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Montana in 2015 Every state in 2015 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, November 2015

Sources

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 607338, 607334, 607333, 607337, 607396, 607397, 607394, 607395.