At the onset of a strong arctic outbreak, areas of snowfall combined with strong and gusty northwest winds to create blizzard conditions for many portions of northeast Montana near the border with North Dakota.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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.
At the onset of a strong arctic outbreak, areas of snowfall combined with strong and gusty northwest winds to create blizzard conditions for many portions of northeast Montana near the border with North Dakota.
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 Dec 5, 3:25 AM MST, 4 hours 5 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service GLASGOW MT 325 AM MST Mon Dec 5 2016 .SHORT TERM...for northeast Montana...today through Wed... Radar reflectivity trends suggest that periods of light snow will continue today across much of northeast Montana. Sheridan County dispatch estimates that over an inch may have already fallen. An additional inch or two may accumulate through the day for a storm total accumulation of 2 to 3 inches. In addition, gusty northwest winds of 20 to 30 mph with higher gusts will lead to considerable blowing and drifting of the snow. Given potential impacts to travel taken together with reports, a Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for Sheridan County. Winter conditions are expected in surrounding counties but at this time expected snow amounts may be less. Day shift will need to closely monitor trends over the next several hours and observe how conditions evolve. The other main concern is the settling in of a bitter cold air mass starting tonight. Low temperatures will drop down to near zero. Northwest winds of 10 to 20 mph will continue and wind chill readings will approach 20 below in a lot of areas. These conditions will likely start to come to fruition at around 08z or 09z and so there is still time to fine tune the locations that will see the larger impacts. Thus, will leave the headline decisions for the day shift. Arctic temperatures will remain in place through the short term period as an upper trough persists across the area. Lows below zero and highs in the single digits are very reasonable given 850mb model temperatures in the -20s. Even if winds trend down some, these conditions will be in stark comparison to those experienced in the relatively mild November. Therefore, wind chill advisories seem appropriate even where reaching criteria may seem more marginal. Still, much of the area may see persistent wind speeds in excess of 10 mph through the period and so for the next few days at least, wind chill headlines appear very likely. .LONG TERM...Wed night through Mon... Pattern with longwave trof over North America is expected to persist through next weekend. A slight shortwave ridge occurs over the northern Rockies late in the week followed by more zonal flow through the weekend. Canadian high pressure pushes into the northern plains bringing dry but still cold weather for Thursday. Temperatures will begin to rebound by Friday as the upper flow turns more westerly. The westerly flow will also bring increased pacific moisture spreading across the divide which could bring snow to the region over the weekend. Models current suggesting another surge of arctic air will drop into the state early next week. Ebert && .AVIATION... MVFR with isolated IFR expected through the day. Cold high pressure will be pushing into the region today with low cloud and occasional snow lingering over northeast Montana through this afternoon. Snow is expected to move out of the state by the evening although low clouds will remain in place overnight. && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until 5 PM MST this afternoon for Sheridan. && weather.gov/glasgow
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 317 AM MST MON DEC 5 2016 MTZ016>018-020>027-059>062-061200- CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY- DANIELS-WESTERN ROOSEVELT-PETROLEUM-GARFIELD-MCCONE-RICHLAND- DAWSON-PRAIRIE-WIBAUX-NORTHERN PHILLIPS-SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS- NORTHERN VALLEY-EASTERN ROOSEVELT- 317 AM MST MON DEC 5 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THE COMBINATION OF LOW TEMPERATURES IN THE SINGLE DIGITS ABOVE ZERO WITH GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS WILL PRODUCE WIND CHILLS OF 15 TO 25 BELOW ZERO LATE TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY ARCTIC TEMPERATURES AND GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS WILL CONTINUE AT TIMES THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT. WIND CHILL READINGS WILL OCCASIONALLY REACH AS LOW AS 15 TO 30 BELOW ZERO. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. MTZ019-061200- SHERIDAN- 317 AM MST MON DEC 5 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT LIGHT SNOW WILL CONTINUE AT TIMES TODAY FOR A STORM TOTAL ACCUMULATION OF UP TO 3 INCHES. GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS WILL CAUSE BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF THE SNOW...LEADING TO DIFFICULT TRAVEL CONDITIONS. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 PM THIS AFTERNOON. THE COMBINATION OF LOW TEMPERATURES IN THE SINGLE DIGITS ABOVE ZERO WITH GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS WILL PRODUCE WIND CHILLS OF 15 TO 25 BELOW ZERO LATE TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY ARCTIC TEMPERATURES AND GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS WILL CONTINUE AT TIMES THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT. WIND CHILL READINGS WILL OCCASIONALLY REACH AS LOW AS 15 TO 30 BELOW ZERO. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT
728 AM MST MON DEC 05 2016
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0712 AM SNOW WOLF POINT 48.09N 105.64W
12/05/2016 E2.0 INCH ROOSEVELT MT PUBLIC
REPORTED VIA FACEBOOK
&&
AHICKFORThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
The mesonet site in Plentywood reported less than 1/4 mile visibility with at least 35 mph winds including some higher gusts. Blowing and drifting snow were also evident across the area.
Trained spotter at 22NW of Sidney reported visibility of 300 feet in blowing snow for most of the day.
Blizzard conditions, including near zero visibility in blowing snow, were reported by the public via social media, especially for northern Dawson County. Event times are estimated.
Trained spotter reported blizzard conditions including less than 1/4 mile visibility in blowing snow. Wind gusts greater than 35 mph were common.
Trained spotter reported blizzard conditions with visibility less than 1/4 mile and wind gusts up to 40 mph for at least 3 hours. Times are estimated.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, December 2016
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: 662213, 662221, 662219, 662222, 669374.