As low-level clouds suddenly cleared, dense fog formed over lower-lying areas along and near the Milk and Missouri River valleys through the morning hours, basically stretching from Saco in the west to Poplar in the east.
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.
As low-level clouds suddenly cleared, dense fog formed over lower-lying areas along and near the Milk and Missouri River valleys through the morning hours, basically stretching from Saco in the west to Poplar in the east.
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 Feb 1, 2:27 AM MST, 2 hours 26 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 227 AM MST MON FEB 1 2016 .SHORT TERM...FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA...TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... SYNOPTIC SETUP...A LARGE COLD ARE TROUGH SETS OVER THE HUDSON BAY WITH A MODIFIED ARCTIC AIRMASS SPREADING BACK WEST OVER THE CANADIAN PLAINS. COOLER PACIFIC AIR RESIDES OVER THE WESTERN HALF OF THE CONUS, BRITISH COLUMBIA, AND THE HIGH PLAINS. A LARGE RIDGE RUNS UP THE WESTERN COAST FROM CALIFORNIA TO CENTRAL ALASKA. TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT... NORTHEAST MONTANA BEGINS UNDER NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WITH A WEAK NEARLY STATIONARY FRONTAL BOUNDARY DRAPED ACROSS THE AREA. THIS BOUNDARY IS LEADING TO WEAK SURFACE WINDS AND ALLOWING ANY LOCAL WEATHER INCLUDING MORNING FOG AND LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS TO REMAIN THROUGHOUT THE DAY. AS MORE PACIFIC AIR FUNNELS INTO THE REGION THE SURFACE LAYER SHOULD STABILIZE AND POP CHANCES SHOULD SLUMP OFF SLOWLY OVERNIGHT. TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... OFF SHORE RIDGE WILL MOVE INLAND AND PRESS INTO THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST DURING THIS TIME. THIS SHOULD BEGIN WARMING THE MID LEVELS AND ALLOWING THE DAYTIME SURFACE HIGHS TO RISE EVER SO SLIGHTLY EACH DAY. A WEAK SURFACE TROUGH ASSOCIATED WITH THE INCOMING WARM AIR ALOFT MAY PASS THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT BUT CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION ARE VERY MINOR WITH THIS PASSAGE. GAH .LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY... A PROGRESSIVE PATTERN IS EXPECTED FOR THE EXTENDED PERIOD. THERE WILL BE A SHORTWAVE RIDGE WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING FOLLOWED BY A SHORTWAVE TROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT IN NW FLOW ALOFT. THE SHORTWAVE TROUGH HAS A FRONTAL SYSTEM WITH ENOUGH MOISTURE WITH IT THAT THERE COULD BE A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS MAINLY THURSDAY NIGHT. UPPER RIDGE BUILDS INTO MONTANA ON FRIDAY AND MOVES ACROSS EASTERN MONTANA ON SATURDAY. THIS WILL BRING CHINOOK WARMING TO THE FORECAST AREA WITH WELL ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND DRY WEATHER TO THE AREA. A VIGOROUS SHORTWAVE TROUGH AND COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED SATURDAY NIGHT. MODELS ARE POINTING TOWARDS A TIGHT SURFACE GRADIENT OVER EASTERN MONTANA AS THE SURFACE LOW MOVES FROM SASKATCHEWAN TO NORTH DAKOTA SATURDAY NIGHT. THIS WILL LIKELY BRING GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS ALONG WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS BEHIND THE COLD FRONT SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. THE CHANCES FOR SNOW SHOWERS COULD LINGER INTO SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY WITH ADDITIONAL SHORTWAVES EXPECTED IN NW FLOW ALOFT. FORRESTER && .AVIATION... WX: DENSE FOG WILL CREATE LOCALLY LIFR CONDITIONS EARLY THIS MORNING. ELSEWHERE...EXPECT A MIX OF MVFR AND VFR CONDITIONS TODAY AS LOW CLOUDS MOVE THROUGH NORTHEAST MONTANA. LOW CLOUDS WILL MOVE TO THE SOUTH TONIGHT AND MID LEVEL CLOUDS WILL BRING VFR CONDITIONS. SURFACE WINDS: NORTHWEST TODAY 5-10 KTS BECOMING LIGHT AND VARIABLE TONIGHT. && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FREEZING FOG ADVISORY UNTIL 8 AM MST THIS MORNING FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY. && WEATHER.GOV/GLASGOW
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 246 AM MST MON FEB 1 2016 MTZ017-011500- CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY- 246 AM MST MON FEB 1 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A DENSE FREEZING FOG ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT THROUGH 8AM THIS MORNING FOR REDUCTION IN VISIBILITY TO LESS THAN A QUARTER MILE AND RIMING ON ROADS THAT CAN MAKE TRAVEL HAZARDOUS. IN ADDITION RIMING ON EXPOSED ELECTRICAL LINES CAN LEAD TO POWER SPIKES THAT DAMAGE SENSITIVE ELECTRONICS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY 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 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.
At the Glasgow airport ASOS site, steady dense freezing fog lasted through the early and mid-morning hours.
At the Poplar airport mesonet site, dense freezing fog lasted through most of the morning hours.
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, February 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: 620875, 620876.