Montana, 2016

High Wind in Montana, April 4 to 6, 2016

April 4 to 6, 2016 · NWS TFX · 11 events in 8 counties and zones

The passage of a cold front across North Central Montana resulted in a very tight surface gradient. Strong northwest winds with gusts exceeding 60 mph were reported across portions of eastern North Central Montana during the early morning hours through the afternoon of April 5.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
11

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 TFX wrote it up.

The passage of a cold front across North Central Montana resulted in a very tight surface gradient. Strong northwest winds with gusts exceeding 60 mph were reported across portions of eastern North Central Montana during the early morning hours through the afternoon of April 5.

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 Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 4, 2:20 PM MST, 1 hour 56 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 4, 2:20 PM MST, 1 hour 56 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
320 PM MDT MON APR 4 2016

UPDATE AVIATION...
.DISCUSSION...

TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...A FAST-MOVING UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE WILL
CROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA THIS EVENING. THE AIRMASS IS
SLIGHTLY UNSTABLE AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AS THE
ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE REGION LATE THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING. THE FRONT WILL BE EAST OF THE ZONES BY LATE EVENING BUT
THE SURFACE GRADIENT WILL BE VERY TIGHT BEHIND THE FRONT AND STRONG
WINDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TUESDAY. WINDS WILL STRENGTHEN THROUGH
THE NIGHT AND BECOME STRONG TOWARDS MORNING. THE HIGH WIND WATCH FOR
THE NORTHEASTERN PORTION OF THE CWA HAS BEEN CHANGED TO A HIGH WIND
WARNING. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD ALOFT MONDAY NIGHT BUT THE BREEZY
CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THE AIRMASS WILL TREND
WARMER AND TEMPS WILL RISE TO NEAR NORMALS TUESDAY AND ABOVE NORMALS
AGAIN BY WEDNESDAY. ZELZER

WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY...MODELS CONTINUE TO INDICATE THAT
THE WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT PERIOD WILL BE DOMINATED BY
A BUILDING UPPER LEVEL RIDGE. THIS PATTEN WILL BRING MOSTLY CLEAR,
DRY AND VERY WARM CONDITIONS TO THE STATE. THERE ALSO CONTINUES TO
BE LOW TO MODERATE CONFIDENCE IN THE CONDITIONS FOR SATURDAY THROUGH
MONDAY AS MEDIUM RANGE MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS.
IT IS WORTH NOTING, HOWEVER, THAT THESE SOLUTIONS DO NOT DIVERGE AS
MUCH TONIGHT AS THEY WERE SHOWING A FEW DAYS AGO. IT CONTINUES TO
SEEM REASONABLE TO TREND THE FORECAST BACK TOWARD SEASONAL
TEMPERATURES AND CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION. AT THIS TIME THE ECMWF
REMAINS A BIT FASTER AND A BIT COLDER THAN THE GFS AS IT BRINGS A
SHARPER AND COLDER UPPER LEVEL TROUGH ACROSS THE REGION. MPJ

&&

.AVIATION...UPDATED 2320Z.

A COLD FRONT WILL BRING STRONG WINDS AND A CHANCE OF SHOWERS THIS
AFTERNOON. COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO EXIT THE AREA AROUND 00Z. A
SLIGHTLY UNSTABLE AIRMASS WILL ALLOW FOR A FEW THUNDERSTORMS
EARLYTHIS EVENING. STRONG WINDS 15-25KTS WITH GUSTS TO NEAR 50 KTS
WILL DEVELOP THIS EVENING AND CONTINUE INTO TUESDAY. LOCAL MVFR
CONDITIONS POSSIBLE NEAR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. ALSO MOUNTAIN
OBSCURATION TONIGHT THROUGH MORNING MORNING AND LOCAL MVFR/IFR
POSSIBLE FROM SNOW SHOWERS IN THE MORNING...ESPECIALLY KLWT. DB

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
GTF  37  51  36  65 /  50  40  10  10
CTB  36  52  37  63 /  40  30  10  10
HLN  35  52  33  65 /  40  20  10  10
BZN  31  50  30  65 /  60  30  10  10
WEY  24  40  23  50 /  70  20  10  10
DLN  29  49  29  61 /  30  10  10  10
HVR  37  54  34  69 /  70  70  10  10
LWT  33  48  32  65 /  70  60  10  10

&&

.TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
HIGH WIND WARNING FROM 3 AM TO 6 PM MDT TUESDAY FOR MTZ011-013-
045-047-050-051.

&&

WEATHER.GOV/GREATFALLS

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 4, 2:32 PM MST, 1 hour 44 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
332 PM MDT MON APR 04 2016

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0308 PM     HAIL             WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS   46.55N 110.90W
04/04/2016  M0.25 INCH       MEAGHER            MT   TRAINED SPOTTER

            PEA-SIZE HAIL WITH HEAVY RAIN AT THE TIME.

&&

DB

Event by event

11 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Chouteau

When
April 4, 4:16 PM MST
Where
Chouteau forecast zone
Measured
54 kt (62 mph) measured gust
Reported by
Mesonet

A gust to 62 mph was reported at Big Sandy.

High Wind, Fergus

When
April 4, 4:58 PM MST
Where
Fergus forecast zone
Measured
52 kt (60 mph) measured gust
Reported by
Other Federal Agency

A gust to 60 mph was reported at Roy 1E.

High Wind, Eastern Teton

When
April 5, 2:58 AM MST
Where
Eastern Teton forecast zone
Measured
51 kt (59 mph) measured gust
Reported by
Other Federal Agency

A gust to 59 mph was reported at Fairfield 15W.

High Wind, Chouteau

When
April 5, 4:37 AM MST to 5:37 AM MST
Where
Chouteau forecast zone
Measured
35 kt (40 mph) measured sustained
Reported by
Mesonet

Sustained winds of 40 mph were reported at Geraldine 8E for more than an hour. A gust to 56 mph was reported during this time.

High Wind, Fergus

When
April 5, 8:53 AM MST
Where
Fergus forecast zone
Measured
55 kt (63 mph) measured gust
Reported by
Other Federal Agency

A wind gust to 63 mph was reported at Roy 1E. Also, a gust to 59 mph was reported at Forestgrove 13SSE (the N Bar Ranch).

High Wind, Jefferson

When
April 5, 8:59 AM MST
Where
Jefferson forecast zone
Measured
51 kt (59 mph) measured gust
Reported by
COOP Observer

A gust to 59 mph was reported at Boulder.

High Wind, Judith Basin

When
April 5, 10:58 AM MST
Where
Judith Basin forecast zone
Measured
52 kt (60 mph) measured gust
Reported by
Other Federal Agency

A wind gust to 60 mph was reported at Denton 7NE. Additionally, a gust to 64 mph was reported at Geyser 6E and Windham 9E. Snow squalls were also reported around the area.

High Wind, Blaine

When
April 5, 12:18 PM MST
Where
Blaine forecast zone
Measured
55 kt (63 mph) measured gust
Reported by
Mesonet

A wind gust to 63 mph was reported at Fort Belknap 13S (the Fort Belknap RAWS site).

High Wind, Eastern Glacier

When
April 6, 2:52 AM MST
Where
Eastern Glacier forecast zone
Measured
53 kt (61 mph) measured gust
Reported by
ASOS

A gust to 61 mph was reported at Cut Bank 3SW (the Cut Bank ASOS site).

High Wind, Cascade

When
April 6, 6:58 AM MST
Where
Cascade forecast zone
Measured
59 kt (68 mph) measured gust
Reported by
Other Federal Agency

A gust to 59 mph was reported at Belt 13SE.

High Wind, Fergus

When
April 6, 11:59 AM MST
Where
Fergus forecast zone
Measured
50 kt (58 mph) measured gust
Reported by
Other Federal Agency

A gust to 58 mph was reported at Garneill 4S.

What these are

High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Montana in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, April 2016

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 618203, 618202, 618201, 618196, 618199, 618200, 618198, 618197, 618204, 618205, 618208.