What began as light snow occurring along with a mix of freezing rain during the early morning of Jan 14th, 2016, quickly became prolonged wet, heavy snowfall in populated areas of northwest Montana. Several spotter calls were made, which revealed that power outages could become a real threat given the intensity and heaviness of new snowfall.
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 MSO wrote it up.
What began as light snow occurring along with a mix of freezing rain during the early morning of Jan 14th, 2016, quickly became prolonged wet, heavy snowfall in populated areas of northwest Montana. Several spotter calls were made, which revealed that power outages could become a real threat given the intensity and heaviness of new snowfall. Radar imagery and forecast guidance indicated intense snow would continue for a longer time period than originally expected, thus prompting the upgrade from a Winter Weather Advisory to a Winter Storm Warning.
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 Jan 13, 4:49 PM MST, 16 hours 41 minutes earlier.
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</html>The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Trained spotters in Bigfork, Montana reported 3 inches of very heavy, wet snow. Tree branches were being weighted down significantly, and people were unable to plow with an ATV due to the snow being very heavy. Power outages were reported around the area.
Noisy Basin snotel recorded 2 feet of snow in 24 hours with 19 inches of it coming down in 12 hours. 3.2 inches of snow water equivalent was recorded in the Swan range which prompted the Flathead Avalanche Center issuing an Avalanche Warning.
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, January 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 615492, 615520.